


Fury - Book One

by Umbrasylph



Series: The Umbra [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Aircraft, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - World War II, Book 1, Confusion, Fights, Gen, Terror, Weird Plot Shit, shit goes wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 02:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 48,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11796921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbrasylph/pseuds/Umbrasylph
Summary: Uhh.... Well, there isn't too good of a way to summarize this without being very vague. Basically, an Umbreon goes around with some friends, blows shit up, causes havoc, gets shot at, and makes people want to kill him. This book is very, vary fast paced though. It is my first work, so it does cling to an unoriginal plot at first.





	Fury - Book One

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first book I've written that's over 30 pages and hasn't failed miserably. It does cling to some unoriginal plot at first, and might go back to some unoriginal plot later on in the book while I stall for ideas, but it's still pretty good. It clocks in at over 210 pages on Microsoft Word (1.15 spaced, so no 2.0 cheap-ass shit) and is over 100,000 words. I wrote it quickly (only 45 days), so it does seem kinda rushed, but I wrote it over a year ago.  
> Btw, the plot is kinda dumb until chapter 5, then it just gets weird.  
> Bare with me here, but if you can't and are interested in some better plot, go to book two - Flight, for some better stuff. It might explain enough for you not to be completely bamboozled, but then again, maybe not. Feel free to chip in suggestions for other tags, because I'm too busy writing the third book to actually go back and properly tag this one. I'll just roll out about 25 pages each time (the chapters are very short). Forgive me if I don't post for a while, I'm hella busy... with nothing to do (I forget, okay?).  
> Anyways, blah blah blah. There's minor blood stuff in this, so if you have terrible hemophobia, and tremble at the very sight of the word blood... I don't care.
> 
> Enjoy this shit.
> 
> Oh wait— Modern and WWII? What??? You may ask, but you'll find out. I won't spoil it or anything besides the fact that WWII is even in it.

Chapter 1

Alone

 

            Here he sat. An Umbreon. Alone in the research lab. Professor Oak’s research lab to be exact. His red eyes cutting through the early morning darkness. He had four good friends, a Pikachu, a Marowak, an Eevee and a Pidgeotto. They had brought him there about a year ago after he had been severely injured in a battle against a swarm of Spearrows. They had come out of the sky and engaged in a battle, a battle that the little Umbreon couldn’t win. Since then, he had grown. His friends stayed with him to keep him company and had never left his side.

            Now, he wanted to leave. He was one step closer, because he had finally figured out how to leave the pokéball. He hated it in there. It was an alternate reality that was supposed to make the Pokémon happy, but there were no other Pokémon, or people, in it. A pokéball turns the Pokémon into data to be stored in it. Most Pokémon were comfortable going in and out of them, but Umbreon and his friends hated it. There was just one problem, he couldn’t find where his friends were stored. This is where the strange things started to happen.

            He knew the personalities of his friends so well, he could flawlessly impersonate them, if he wanted to. He had always been interested in how different Pokémon act. He thought about Pidgeotto’s personality and saw that the room became slightly darker. He was puzzled by this. How could the light just fade if there was almost none to begin with?

            He looked around to try and find a source but saw a glow coming from one of the rows of shelves that held the pokéballs. He slowly crept over to the row and kept low. He peered around the corner to look at what was emitting the light. The light seemed to blind him against the dark background. It was coming from a pokéball on the third shelf. He walked up to it, eyes adjusting to the bright light. He climbed up to it. The light wasn’t as bright anymore. He pressed the button and the pokéball opened, he had no idea what to expect.

            Something flew strait up out of the pokéball and hit the ceiling with a thud.

“Pidgeo–!” _Thud!_ “Geot” [“I’m free!”] [“Oww.”]

“Umb. Umbreon,” Umbreon quietly said. [“Quiet. We don’t want to wake the Professor up.”]

“Pidgeot,” He apologized. [“Sorry.”]

            “We have to find Eevee, Marowak, and Pikachu. I have a plan,” Umbreon whispered. Pidgeotto nodded in agreement. Umbreon was still curious about how Pidgeotto’s pokéball started glowing the when he thought of him. _I can’t have some “special power” that can help me find my friends, or anyone as a matter of fact._ He didn’t know what to do, so he thought of the only way that couldn’t work. _It doesn’t hurt to try; I guess…_ He thought about Eevee and didn’t see the light fade and didn’t see any glows. _What did I do differently last time?_ He remembered. He needed to think about Eevee’s personality. So he tried, and the light faded once more.

            He couldn’t believe it it worked.

            “Pidgeotto, do you see that glow?” Umbreon asked.

            “What glow?” He said, puzzled.

            “Never mind.”

            He ran towards the light, his paws slipping on the tile floor. It was a few rows down on the bottom shelf. He hit the button and the ball opened. Eevee appeared on the floor.

            “Weeve? Ee,” Eevee said. [“What? Oh, thanks.”]

            “Follow me. I’ll explain later,” Umbreon said.

            He decided to try the power he apparently had to find Marowak. He thought about Marowak’s personality and the light faded once again. He looked up to the top shelf, where a pokéball was glowing. It was a 15-foot climb to get to the top. He pulled himself up by jumping from one shelf to get to the other. It was a very difficult climb for him. He was out of breath by the time he reached the top. He looked back down at Eevee and Pidgeotto, who were both staring at him, puzzled.

            He pressed the button on the pokéball and Marowak came out a few feet off of the shelf. He hung in the air for a second before falling to the floor.

            “Maro Maro Marowak!” Marowak screeched. [“What was that for?”]

            “Umb! On reon,” Umbreon responded. [“So we can get out of here if you could stay quiet!”]

            The door to the storage room was flung open. “Who’s making all of that noise?” It was Professor Oak.

           

Chapter 2

Found

 

            Everyone scattered. Except for Umbreon who was too high up to safely jump down. He dove to the back of the shelf, dislodging a pokéball. He couldn’t see the rest of his friends from his lofty perch, but he did see the pokéball roll of the edge and disappear. It hit the ground with a loud metallic clang. He hoped wouldn’t be found, but he feared he would.

            He heard the Professor grab the ladder, confirming his fear. He saw it as the very top of the ladder appear on the side of the shelf. The Professor climbed the ladder and spotted him, Umbreon was too afraid to move. The Professor reached out to grab him and the he ran off.

            “Run out the door and don’t get caught!” he yelled.

            He jumped onto another row of shelves and saw Eevee running out the door. _Good, at least one got out._ He tried to climb down to the shelf below him and slipped. Falling to the floor below. He twisted in the air to get himself to land on his feet. The ground was getting ever closer. He landed with a dull thud, on his side. He laid on the ground, dazed from the impact. He heard footsteps, him to get up as the Professor rounded the corner. He struggled to run for the door, his paws sliding on the cold tile floor and his side hurting. He saw the door and ran faster. As the Umbreon would soon find out, it was a big mistake.

            He turned to run through the doorway, slipped, and slid into the doorframe, slamming into his already injured side. A bolt of pain went through his body, causing him to curl into a ball. Unknowing to him Pidgeotto, Eevee and Marowak were safely outside, watching through a window as the Professor walked up to Umbreon and picked him up. He held up a pokéball and pressed the button. It emitted a red stream that transferred Umbreon into it. Outside, the three Pokémon stepped away from the window.

            “What will we do?” Eevee asked.

            “We can only wait,” Pidgeotto said, “And find a place to stay until we can help.”

            Disappointed with the answer, Eevee started to think.

 

Chapter 3

Gone

 

            Umbreon watched in horror as his friend, a Pikachu, was given to a boy. He couldn’t believe that the Professor would just give away a Pokémon that special. “Help!” The Pikachu called to him, but there was nothing he could do but watch as his friend was carried out the door.

            Umbreon woke up in a small room, and it wasn’t his pokéball. He heard voices outside the room. It sounded like the Professor…, and a boy. He forgot that it was the day the three starter Pokémon, Squritle, Charmander and Bulbasaur, Three Pokémon were going to be chosen by…four trainers? “Pika!” he heard from outside. [“No!”] He remembered his dream and feared the worst. He heard the front door slam shut.

            He saw a window and decided to see if he could see the boy and whichever Pokémon he had. He moved to get up, but a bolt of pain shot through his side. He managed to stand up, his side aching with pain. He knew that he couldn’t get up to the windowsill. He flopped back onto his side and drifted back into unconsciousness. He had no way to say goodbye to his friend.

 

Chapter 4

The Three

 

            Eevee followed Pidgeotto and Marowak through the field towards the mountains. They were all bewildered when they saw Pikachu was given to one of the new trainers.

            “I hope we can find a hollow or a cave we can stay in until we can take action,” Marowak said.

            “Well, we also need to figure out what to do,” Eevee announced.

            “There is a huge storm coming and night is approaching,” Pidgeotto said, pointing to the angry dark clouds. “We should find shelter sooner than later.”

            Eevee was starting to come up with a plan of how to get Umbreon out. “Tomorrow,” Eevee announced, “We will take action.”

            “You?” Marowak scoffed. “You are the smallest and lest experienced Pokémon here. I think you should leave the planning to us.”

            “You will regret this someday,” Eevee calmly said back, trying to hide his annoyance, “Just because I’m small now doesn’t mean I’m inexperienced.

            “Why don’t you two stop arguing and let’s get moving before this storm washes us out. Pidgeotto commanded.

            They continued through the forest in silence. It would be a long time before Eevee could slip away and go through with his plan.

            Rain was pouring down by the time they reached a cave near the top of a mountain. Sheltered from the elements, they all settled down to sleep.

            “I guess it’ll just be the three of us,” Eevee mumbled to himself.

 

———

 

            In the morning, they all got a good look of where they truly were. They were in a small cave near the top of a mountain. In the valley below, the river was brown, swollen and choked with debris. Even though it was so full, it was flowing just as sluggishly as before. The mountain they were on was dotted with apple trees, which would be their food supply for however long they would be spending up here.

            “Let’s go up higher on the mountain to see what we can find.” Pidgeotto said.

            “That sounds great.” Marowak replied.

            They made the small trek up the rest of the mountain to reach the top, but it wasn’t pointed like they usually are. It was a wide, flat and long plateau. It was about 80 feet wide and 3/5 of a mile long. Eevee noticed that there were two objects sitting at the opposite end of the peak. One was aligned straight at them while the other one was off to the side. Marowak noticed too,

            “Hey guys, what are those two things down there?” Pidgeotto shrugged. Then, Eevee noticed the ruins of a small structure.

            “Hey. I’ve been here before!” Eevee shouted.

            “What?” Pidgeotto and Marowak said simultaneously.

            “Yes, I have been up here. With Umbreon.”

            “But why?” Marowak replied.

            “Umbreon and I are usually let out of our pokéballs together,” Eevee explained, “So we have made it a tradition to go around and explore. On one of our later expeditions, we climbed this mountain and found those two things at the end. We went up to them and noted that they looked old and complicated. So we didn’t return until late in the evening when the lab was quiet and used his computer to look up a word we found on it. Umbreon used to watch the Professor use his computer to try to learn how to use it. We typed in the word ‘gear lever’, which was a word that he had seen, and came up with many results, eventually narrowing it down to it is used to control landing gear, which are the wheels on the bottom. So we searched around more and and found that those two things are called airplanes; they fly like birds. Umbreon told me he went on more expeditions ad searched more to learn how it worked.”

            “Wow, he could get us out of here, if we could get him out of the lab,” Pidgeotto said.

            “Before we do that, let’s get something to eat,” Marowak cut in.

            “Typical Marowak, always thinking about food,” Eevee said quietly.

            “Over lunch,” Pidgeotto said, “let’s start thinking about how to get Umbreon out. Oh, and Marowak, Eevee can help out.”

            “Thanks,” Eevee replied, ignoring the angered protests from Marowak.

 

———

« Four months later »

———

 

            “Nothing is working,” Eevee said, bewildered as they walked back into the cave after their latest attempt.

            “Maybe we should just wait here for him. We do have a great vantage point,” Pidgeotto said. I can also scan the skies for him. How does that sound Marowak?”

Silence

            “He’s already asleep, “Eevee said, “Typical.”

 

———

« Three days later »

———

 

Chapter 5

Escape

 

            Umbreon got up. Today was the day. He was going to get out of this place. The Professor had kept him out of his pokéball, realizing he liked it much better to be out. When the Professor wasn’t watching, or asleep, he would research more about those planes and get stronger. A bonus about being around a computer all night was that you could learn anything about the human’s language and those planes. Today, about 11:00 in the evening, he was going to break out.

            He crept over to a vent, the same one used many times to sneak in and out of the building. He used it a lot, but not with any other Pokémon, so none of his friends knew about it. Which was a mistake. The reason why he hadn’t escaped earlier is that he realized that there was so much more to the aircraft then what he thought was possible. Now, he felt he knew all he could about the planes, or at least one of them. It was a Bf-110 C. The name only really mattered to him for research purposes. He squeezed out of the vent to the outside, carefully replacing it as the noise echoed through the entire lab. He was free, now it was time to head for the hills, literally.

            It took him a long time to reach the top of the mountain. He had also looked for his friends on the way over with no avail. He estimated that is was about 11:00 in the morning when he reached the plane. It looked even better than it ever had previously.

            It was a long, skinny plane at 40 feet long with a 53-foot wingspan. Two powerful 1,430 horsepower DB 601 E engines were mounted on the wings. There were three blades on each propeller. It had a twin rudder tail, with the rudders mounted at the end of the elevators. It had tail dragging landing gear, two wheels under the wing and one small one at the back. It also had some cannons mounted on it, all empty, and for some strange reason, it was fully fueled. As if it wasn’t strange enough that two planes were up here.

            Anyways, he struggled to climb up onto the plane, having to grab a couple of branches and prop them up at the wingtip. He climbed up and carefully made his way to the glass-bubble cockpit. He pulled the lever and the cockpit glass hinged open. His heart was pounding as he closed and locked the door and stood on the metal seat. He had done almost everything he could to try to successfully get out of here. The plane had a 3,600 mile range with the two drop tanks, and a maximum speed of 240 miles per hour.

            All the engine controls were grouped together to the left of the seat. He opened the fuel lines, pushed the throttle up and flipped a lever, engine one sputtered to life as a puff of fire and black smoke came out of the exhaust. He repeated the process for engine two. Both engines were burbling at idle, about 600 rpm. This was a one-way trip, there was no way for him to land back here if there were problems, the runway was too short. It was barely long enough for him to take off. He wished he knew where his friends were so he could get them out too.

            It was 1:00, he had to go. He pushed the throttle to full power and the engines revved up. The plane lurched forward and started to accelerate rapidly. The sound of the engines filled the cockpit. A little way away, Eevee heard a noise unlike any other. It was like a low growl, which shifted into a loud roar. He crept out of the cave and ran up the hill. The plane was gaining speed and eating up the runway faster every second. As Eevee climbed to the top of the mountain, the noise kept getting louder and louder. Umbreon pulled up on the stick, causing the plane to tilt upwards, but it didn’t go up. The runway disappeared out from under him and the plane started to sink down. He had gone over the edge of the mountain.

            Eevee ducked as the noise abruptly reached a deafening level. He saw a plane fly over and dip below the tree line. _He’s leaving without us. How could he._ Eevee thought. Umbreon kept the plane tilted up at the propellers clawed at the air for speed. The decent slowed and became a shallow climb. He banked slightly to the right and started going somewhere, he didn’t know where. Marowak and Pidgeotto were out of the cave when Eevee returned head down and tail dragging. “He left without us,” Eevee said, barely more than a whisper.

“He’ll be back, if that is even him.” Pidgeotto replied, but his tone wasn’t confident. “One way or another.”

            Umbreon had no idea where he was going, he just knew he was going there fast. A few minutes later, he started to think of where he could go. _Maybe I can find Pikachu and bring him back._ He thought. _If they left four months ago and went east, they would most likely be in Murainn. So I should change my course to 93 degrees._ He looked down to adjust his course based on the compass in the plane. It was at 236 degrees. He banked sharply to the left and flattened out when he reached 93 degrees. He reduced the throttle to 90% and climbed to an altitude of 6,500 feet. He would be flying over the valley once again.

            It was a sunny day with puffy clouds sitting a bit below him. _Wow. I have never been in the sky before. I wonder if Pidgeotto has done this?_ Umbreon thought. He saw the valley below him. _If only I could go down there and get my friends. If they are still there._ The valley soon fell behind him, only the sound of the engines and the rushing wind kept him company. He checked his speed. 210 miles per hour. _I should get there at about 10:00 tonight._

            The view of the sunset was amazing from 6,500 feet. The sky was filled with orange, red, yellow and gold. When the sun disappeared, everything was dark. There was no moon, but stars dotted the night sky like glitter. _How am I supposed to land at night?_ He still had a distance to go. As he neared the city, the clouds below him grew thick. He had to descend below them. The dense cloud cover swallowed his plane, making the night even darker. _Now I can’t see my own plane wing on top of not being able to see in the dark. This couldn’t get much worse._ It could.

            By the time he descended through the cloud cover, he was flying just 500 feet above the ground. He spotted lights in the distance. _That must be Murainn!_ He felt relived. _But where am I going to land?_ The stress quickly returned. There was an airport at Murainn, but it was far too busy for him to land at. But there was also a small airfield, but it was a low, tricky approach over the city. The airfield was unlit too. He flew around for a little bit, trying to find the dark airfield. He finally found it, but it was impossible to land without looping over the city.

            He reduced the throttle to 50% as he banked over the outskirts of the city and turned on the landing lights on the wings. The engines stopped roaring and started to hum. “Flaps, combat,” He said to himself as he pulled the lever. The flaps deployed. “Gear, out.” He pulled another lever and waited for the two lights to turn red, indicating that they were both extended. “Flaps, landing.” He pulled the flaps lever more. The skyscrapers flanked his left side. He was flying no more that 150 feet above the flat rooftops of low-lying apartment flats. He could see people on the rooftop patios looking up at him. He reduced the throttle to 35% and checked his speed. 110 miles an hour. That was the lowest he was willing to go.

            He descended lower over the buildings, he was just 50 feet away from the tops of the buildings. They vanished, he was almost over the runway. He descended lower, not knowing where the runway started, all he could see was grass in the light coming from the landing lights embedded in the wings. He saw concrete and set the plane down on the concrete. The plane ate up the runway fast. Umbreon had no way of reaching the brake so the plane had to coast to a stop. Before it stopped, he jumped down and landed on the rudder pedal, the plane lurched left and stopped on the grass next to three other planes.

            He was shaking from adrenaline from landing the plane and the thought of finding his friend. He had made a system with his electric friend, he would send a signal into the ground using a dark pulse, and if his friend could feel it, and respond sending a shock into the ground. They could also locate each other. He wandered into the woods not too far away from the airfield and found a bramble bush. He pushed himself inside into a little shelter and laid down. He was exhausted. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 

 

 

Chapter 6

Battle

 

            He woke early in the morning and groggily stood up. The sun had just peered over the horizon. It was time to go find his friend. He walked into the city, trying to get as close to the center of the city as possible while it was still quiet. He walked for a long time ignoring the people walking past him and giving him strange looks, maybe thinking he belonged to someone.

            He finally reached the main part of the city. Many skyscrapers towered over him. Their glass façade glowing in the early morning light. He used dark pulse straight into the ground thrice in rapid succession. People stopped and looked it him

            “What is it doing?” someone said.

“It must be crazy,” another person said. Umbreon thought he heard a Pokédex saying: “Pokémon unknown.”

            He was standing beneath a large skyscraper covered in glass, tinted blue by the sky. There was a deep fountain on the opposite side of him, past that was an X shaped intersection. He was standing and large, pastel-red bricks. A circle of people watched him from a distance.

            He heard the familiar click of a pokéball detaching from a belt. He couldn’t locate where the trainer was. _I am an idiot._ He thought. _I am a one of a kind Pokémon in a busy city, of course someone is going to try to catch me._ “Pokéball go!” Someone yelled. He angrily whisked around to see a pokéball flying straight at him. He swatted it away with a swipe of his paw.

            “Looks like someone wants a fight,” The person said again.

            Umbreon located the person. A tall boy with military green cargo pants and a desert tan shirt has standing at the forward edge of the crowd. He looked very experienced. Umbreon looked around for a way out, but the crowd had encircled him. He had to fight, but he didn’t mind, he was going to show this boy what he really was.

            “Go Raichu,” the boy yelled. _Bad choice._ Umbreon thought. He had trained to ground electric attacks with Pikachu. “Raichu, use thunder!” He watched calmly as the attack charged up. Just before it was released, Umbreon reared up onto two legs, pointed his ears up, and lifted up his left rear leg. It was a defense of extreme balance and concentration. The thunder attack went into his ears and grounded through his leg. The trainer looked just as confident as before.

            Umbreon used double team to surround Raichu as it was trying another thunder attack. The attack was diverted to most of the group, only missing him and three others. The trainer knew he had a good chance of hitting the real Umbreon. “Aim your thunder at the one to the left.” Umbreon was the one on the left, so he sprang forward, avoiding the attack. He used and agility attack and a tackle attack immediately afterwards, slamming into the tired Raichu, knocking him out of the battle.

            “Raichu return!” The trainer said as he got his pokéball out.

            The Raichu was returned to the ball and the trainer got another ball from his belt. He threw it as Umbreon got back to his ready position at the opposite end of the circle of people.

            “Go Ekans!”

            Umbreon had no idea what to expect from the snake Pokémon.

            “Ekans! use poison sting!”

            The Ekans opened its mouth and shards of poison were ejected at high speeds. Umbreon barely had time to use agility to get out of the way. He was becoming tired, but adrenaline kept him going strong.

            The trainer looked frustrated. Umbreon was so focused on the trainer that he didn’t notice that Ekans was using a wrap attack. Ekans caught him and wrapped him in coils, getting tighter every second. He was suffocating. He looked around for an escape. His vision was becoming smaller and smaller, the black around the edges reaching for the center. The trainer readied a pokéball. He looked up at the sun, which was becoming dimmer, but not because his vision was fading. A cloud had covered the sun, letting him use his only escape.

            He focused the last of his draining energy to become one with the shadows. The trainer was confused, Umbreon had simply disappeared from Ekans coils. The crowd was shifted and everyone looked around for the Umbreon. He had made himself into a shadow and used a move called moonlight, which restored most of his energy.

            The first thing the trainer saw was the yellow markings of the Umbreon, they were moving fast toward his Ekans. The cloud covering the sun moved on and sunlight bathed the square. Umbreon fully appeared just inches away from tackling Ekans. Ekans fell to the floor with a thud and Umbreon stood over him victoriously. Shooting an evil smile at the trainer. He was confident he could defeat anything he threw at him.

            “Go Pidgeot!”

            Umbreon had no idea what to expect. The crowd had grown even bigger. Cramped with spectators watching the unique battle. Umbreon had no idea on how to approach the huge bird. It was bigger than normal, Umbreon estimated that it weighed in at 110 pounds, Umbreon was only 60.

            “Pidgeot! Slam him!”

            Umbreon braced himself for the incoming impact. Instead of a tackle, the huge bird picked him up and lifted him into the air, it’s huge claws fitting around his slim body. The Pidgeot carried him high into the air, flying straight up. Suddenly, the claws disappeared from around him.

            Umbreon looked up just in time to see the bird fly up without him. Time slowed down. He looked at the skyscraper, but it wasn’t there, it was about 500 feet below him. He was falling from over 2,000 feet with no way to stop his rapid decent, and the Pidgeot wasn’t going to catch him either. He aimed himself at the fountain and hoped it was deep enough. From his vantage of the third floor of a hotel a distance away, Pikachu saw the entire thing. Not knowing what to do, he just sat there.

            Umbreon hit the water hard, but it was just enough to stop his rapid decent. He swam for the surface. The surface broke as his black head appeared. He swam for the edge and got up. He was exhausted. The trainer looked at him triumphantly as he threw a pokéball towards him. “Pokéball go!” It clicked open and red covered his vision. He was being captured.

            It was pitch black as the virtual world loaded. Once it was fully loaded, he would belong to the trainer who had captured him. He thought about his friends and how they had saved him…. How he got them out of the lab…. And how he had left them…. He just wanted to pass out and accept his fate, but something inside of him was still fighting. Instead of passing out, he was going to use an attack. Not just a normal attack, but one which required a lot of power, power that he didn’t have. He was going to use hyper beam.

            Outside of the pokéball, the trainer watched at the ball rocked just a little bit and the red around the button started to fade. He had captured the Umbreon. Inside of it, he had finished charging and released his attack. It was so intense that the pokéball exploded without warning. As the smoke cleared, the pokéball was gone replaced by the Umbreon. The pokéball had converted most of the Umbreon into data and when the ball exploded, it glitched and reformed part of the Umbreon.

            All of his yellow markings were replaced with an icy blue, and his red eyes were now yellow. He still had fur as black as a night with no moon. His energy and health had been fully restored and he was ready to fight. He was now an even rarer Pokémon, also known as shiny. He was now a shiny Umbreon. He finished the Pidgeot off in a quick attack and pierced his way through the crowd to escape. He never looked back at the trainer.

            He had no idea of where to go, so he kept running down the bust street, until he heard from above him,

            “Hey you down there, stop!” He looked up to see it was Pikachu.

 

Chapter 7

Meetup

 

            “Hello up there!” Umbreon called out.

            “Hi there. I never thought I would see you again!” Pikachu yelled back.

            “I’ll be up in a flash!”

            “Go to the door that says 318 on it!”

            With that, Umbreon ran into the hotel and up the three flights of stairs. He ran down the hall looking for the number 318. He found it near the end of the hall.

            “Hello?” He called out.

            The door handle shook, then pointed downwards.

            “Push the door!” His friend called back. He pushed to door and it opened. His friend let go of the handle and dropped back to the floor.

            “Hey, you’ve changed,” Pikachu said, surprised.

            “Wha–? Oh. Now I’m blue? Okay. How didn’t I notice?” Umbreon responded, confused.

            “Well you didn’t even notice, so it must be new. Also, your eyes are yellow now.”

            “Ok. Something must’ve happened after the– “

            “Pokéball explosion,” Pikachu finished for him.

            “How did you know?”

            “I saw the whole thing from the windowsill.”

            “So…. Why didn’t you come and help?”

            “Honestly, I was too scared. It looked very intense.”

            “It was; I don’t even know how I made it out.”

            “Wow, something strange must’ve happened.”

            “Sure. So how have you been doing?”

            “I’m doing fine,” his friend responded. “But all of this training is hard.”

            “Training? For what?”

            “Well, my master, Ash, is a Pokémon trainer. I fight with him in gyms so we can win battles to earn badges. When we have enough, we can go fight in the finals.”

            “That’s sounds fun, but I don’t want to have a master. Not ever. Do you want to come with me? Possibly?”

            “No. Honestly I like it like this, and I don’t want to run away.”

            “Okay. I can understand.”

            “What are you doing here?” Someone called out from farther into the room.

            “Oh shoot, I thought she was asleep.” Pikachu said.

            “I should get going. It was nice taking to you. I’ll see you again soon. I promise!” Umbreon said as he ran out the door

            “Bye!” His friend called after him.

            _All of this work for just a short talk. Well, I’ll spend a couple more days here and then leave. I need to know how to battle these ‘gyms’._ He ran out of the hotel and stealthily made his way to the gym, where he would later watch his fiend battle.

 

Chapter 8

Drowned

 

            It had been five days since Umbreon left. Eevee was starting to give up hope on his friend returning. _He left with no intention of returning to this place. Why would he ever come back._ Eevee and his friends were down at the river for a drink. It was a narrow, but deep river with a strong current. The sides were thick with lush, green trees. Their leaf covered branched arched over the river. The evening sun coated the forest with orange light.

            They were about ready to go back up when they heard a drone in the distance. “Those have to be Beedrill! We gotta go!” Marowak shouted as he backed away.

            “No. Those aren’t Beedrill,” Eevee replied.

            The drone got closer until it was right above them. Eevee looked up. “He is back!” Pidgeotto called out. “He’s going to land and we should go up there to welcome him back.”

            Eevee looked at the plane closer, it seemed to be flying very slow. There was black smoke pouring out of the right engine and the left engine wasn’t working at all. The landing gear on the right wing was fully extended, but the other one wasn’t.

            “Uh, guys?” Eevee called out to Pidgeotto and Marowak, who had started to go up the hill. “Come take a look at this. He is in trouble.”

            Pidgeotto and Marowak ran over and looked up.

            “I am going to fly up there and see what I can do about it. Pidgeotto took off and flew up to the plane.

            When he reached the plane, Umbreon looked out at him in relief as he opened a little slide window in the bird cage-like cockpit.

            “Thanks for coming up here,” Umbreon said, “I need help, the plane is destroying itself!”

Pidgeotto was about to speak when the remaining engine started sputtering.

            “Shit, no. Just hold on until I reach the field.” Umbreon said to himself.

            The engine cut out and the propeller slowed. The plane had run out of fuel. The plane dipped below Pidgeotto and sharply banked left toward the river, losing altitude fast. From what Eevee saw, it was nothing good.

            Pidgeotto dived towards his friends as fast as he could. Half landing, half crashing into the ground he yelled out

            “He isn’t going to make it to the mountain!” Eevee remembered how Umbreon had told him about water landings and how dangerous they were, especially if anything large could touch the water before the rest of the plane did. Eevee felt something strange inside him as his Pidgeotto and Marowak ran towards the river. “He could die,” Eevee said quietly.

            The plane had never retracted the one landing gear and the other one wouldn’t extend. He had flown at 150 mph until the the left engine overheated and sized up about halfway home. He had to keep the right engine at 100% to keep the plane at 120mph. The right engine was extremely overheated by the time Pidgeotto came up to him, but he ran out of fuel first. He would have enough if the system for both engines wasn’t separate, but it was.

            Pidgeotto and Marowak reached the river as Umbreon was dipping below the trees downstream. He was in a steep dive to gain speed for his last ditch attempt to get rid of the single landing gear. Two large tanks mounted on the wings dropped. It was his final preparation for landing. They hit the water with a splash and floated on top. Umbreon was going 150 mph, hoping it was enough to sheer the landing gear off of a large rock in his path on the opposite side of the stream from his friends. He adjusted his altitude slightly to make sure the engine didn’t hit the rock.

            The landing gear hit the rock and sheared off with the sound of tearing metal and flew into the forest. Instead of continuing to go land in the water, the plane was violently thrown against the trees. It spun around as it hit several trees before the partially full fuel tank exploded, causing the plane to cartwheel into the river and sink to the bottom. Umbreon had just enough conscious left to make it to the back of the plane, where there was a hole instead of the tail. The birdcage cockpit was crushed as the plane hit the bottom, which would’ve stopped any chances of escape if he hadn’t moved.

            Marowak got into the water and disappeared beneath the surface. He was going to try and save Umbreon. The bushed just upstream of him rustled and a Vaporeon ran across the bank and dove into the water without hesitation. Pidgeotto could only watch as the minutes ticked by. There was nothing he could do.

            There were bubbles and a blue head appeared carrying Umbreon by the scruff of his neck. The Vaporeon got out of the water and gently placed Umbreon, who was still breathing but unconscious, onto the ground. Marowak was nowhere to be found. The Vaporeon dove back into the water only to come back empty-pawed. Marowak was presumed dead. Washed away by the stream.

            “Where is Eevee?” Pidgeotto asked, panicking.

            “Eevee is no more,” the Vaporeon responded.

            “Do you mean he is dead too? How? TELL ME HOW!”

            “You don’t seem to understand.”

            “I do understand, Eevee is dead. D-E-A-D.”

            “No Eevee is now me, Vaporeon.”

            “But. But they only evolve with stones.”

            “Well how do you think you find _wild_ Vaporeons?”

            “Oh okay then. Prove to me that you were Eevee.”

            “He has the same mental signature,” a voice cut in.

            “Umbreon! You’re okay,” Pidgeotto yelled.

            “Why don’t you two stop bickering and get me out of here. Or at least to where you guys are staying.”

            “But that is a psychic ability,” Pidgeotto said. “To know mental signatures.”

            “I am a dark _psychic_ type. Now get me out of here before night.”

            Or at least that’s what Umbreon thought. But don’t worry, it will soon be explained.

            Vaporeon started helping Umbreon up the mountain to their hideout.

            “You’re lucky you didn’t break anything,” Vaporeon said.

            “I feel like I have broken everything,” Umbreon said. “And I am sorry for leaving you guys behind. I did and now Marowak is dead. It’s my fault.”

            _Wow._ Pidgeotto thought. _He only looks half alive. But what about the “mental signature?”_ _Could he somehow be psychic?_ Pidgeotto remembered how he had found him, then asked about a glowing light.

            “We might have something special here.” Pidgeotto said to himself.

            By the time they reached the cave, it was night. Umbreon was exhausted. He had slowly climbed the mountain, sometimes being pushed by Vaporeon. They had helped in every way that they could, they even had prepared a nest for him out of grass and moss. He laid down in it and floated into a nightmarish sleep.

            He thought about the battle. The flight home. The crash. Pidgeotto’s expression when the plane dipped below him. The plane tearing apart around him, pulling him into the depths of the river. Waking up to Marowak’s death. The scene kept playing over and over. The plane crashing into the water. He thought he was going insane.

            He woke up the sunlight streaming into the cave. He rolled onto his side and looked at the blue sky. _I love it up there, but not when I am falling out of it._ Umbreon thought. He noticed there was an apple next to him. He tried to get up but he was in too much pain. He grabbed it and ate it laying down.

 

Chapter 9

Flare?

 

            It was three days before Umbreon could get up, and two more before he could walk more than 50 feet. He had told him everything about the gym battle and why he was blue instead of yellow. On the seventh day, he could finally walk a short distance without pain, and on the tenth, he was feeling normal again. He was glad he moved to the back and that Vaporeon rescued him in the strong currents. Even though the river looked sluggish, underwater, the river was strong.

            Umbreon stretched as he opened his eyes. It was early in the morning on the eleventh day after the crash. He looked at Pidgeotto and Flareon, they were both still asleep. He walked out of the cave to a little ledge. The valley was bathed in orange sunlight. He became less tired as he looked into the valley below. _Something isn’t right_ , he thought. He turned around and looked back into the cave. “What the hell if a Flareon doing where Vaporeon should be?” He said.

            Umbreon, silent as a shadow, ran back into the cave. He tapped on Flareon’s side. “Come with me,” Umbreon whispered, not wanting to wake Pidgeotto. Flareon silently followed him as he walked out of the cave and away from the entrance.

            “Alright,” Umbreon commanded. “Where is Vaporeon.”

            “I am Vaporeon,” Flareon replied. “Has the crash knocked the sanity out of you?”

            “No, it hasn’t. But I am pretty sure what I am looking at isn’t a Vaporeon.”

            “Well. I am Eevee, who then evolved into Vaporeon. Who will _stay_ as Vap–”

            “Flareon,” Umbreon cut him off. “You didn’t stay as a Vaporeon ‘cause you are a Flareon. So I have no idea where Vaporeon is.”

            “What are you tal–”

            “Look at yourself! Do it!”

            Flareon looked at himself.

            “See?” Umbreon said.

            “I-I…I…don’t understand.”

            “Wait, let me do a quick test”

            The icy blue O on Umbreon’s head started to glow purple.

            “Yep,” Umbreon said. “You’re Eevee alright. And I say that because that’s what I can track it back to.”

            “Alright,” Vaporeon said. “Well, I now that I am a Flareon now, how will that change everything. You know, I have no idea what to do”

            “Well, first thing’s first. We have to tell Pidgeotto.”

            They both walked back to the cave where Pidgeotto was still asleep.

            “Hey, Pidgeotto!” Umbreon yelled. “Get up!”

            “Five more minutes!” He replied, eyes still closed.

            “Well why why doesn’t Vaporeon wake you up with a water gun?”

            “Please no.”

            “Do a light fire attack,” Umbreon whispered to Flareon.

            Flareon spat some fire towards Pidgeotto, which hit him and dispersed. Pidgeotto was awake in an instant. Not getting a good look at “Vaporeon,” he blurted out sarcastically:

            “When did you become a fire type Pokémon?”

            “Sometime last night,” Flareon responded.

            “Wait! You are a fire Pokémon! What is happening?”

            With that. The confused Pidgeotto ran past both of them to the cave entrance and flew away.

            “He’ll be back,” Umbreon said. “After he wraps his little brain around it.”

            “Let’s go get some breakfast,” Flareon said.

            “Sure”

            After the amazing breakfast of berries and apples was over soon. They talked about escaping in the other plane at the end of the runway.

            “So,” Umbreon started. “When I was researching about the other plane, the He-219, I found it to be considerably better than the Bf-110.”

            “So why didn’t you use it to escape the first time?” Flareon said.

            “I didn’t want to use the best one to escape the first time.”

            “When will we escape?”

            “After we get stronger. Also, I need you to help me with the plane.”

            “What about it.”

            “I need you to use your torch to cut some metal.”

            They both went up the mountain and to the remaining plane. They both jumped onto the wing of the plane and approached the dome-like cockpit. Umbreon had gotten much stronger since the fight in Murainn, possibly because of the glitch. Umbreon opened it and jumped in. There was a forward facing seat for the pilot and a rear facing seat for the radio operator. “I need you to cut off the backs of the seats and whatever is between it,” Umbreon told him.

“Okay,” Flareon replied as he jumped in and cut through the metal with a focused torch.

            After they had done that, Umbreon had him fuse some of the metal between the two to create a space big enough for the three of them. They found enough metal parts from the run down shed to create a rig that let Umbreon use the rudder with his hind paws and the usual stick controls with his front ones. They made the important levers and buttons more accessible to him too, and they rigged a harness for the three of them, one that fit Umbreon, one that fit Pidgeotto, and one that fit whatever form Flareon would be.

            All we have to do is train and get stronger so that we can battle. We should be out of here in the next month. We will also tell Pidgeotto about your special power

            For the next month, they all had an intensive training schedule that involved waking up early and staying up late. After the month was over, they were ready to leave.

 

Chapter 10

Dust

 

            They all piled into the cockpit of the plane. Flareon had turned back into a Vaporeon, only to become a Jolteon later on in the past month.

            “Don’t crash this time,” Jolteon said.

            “Don’t worry about it,” Umbreon replied.

            He started up the engines, which was considerably easier to do in the slightly newer plane. He lined up the plane on the grassy runway and looked back at his friends. They were shaking, obviously nervous about being in this plane. It had a 3,000 mile range and ran on two DB 610 engines with 2,950 horsepower each, easily propelling it to its top speed of 490 miles per hour at maximum power. The plane was slim, which was better for aerodynamics. It was 51 feet long and 61 feet wide. The two engines were mounted on the wings and the propellers had four blades each. It had tricycle landing gear, two mounted under the engines and one under the nose. It also had a forked tail, with the two rudders mounted on the tips of the elevators. The plane was covered in white-toned camouflage. There were four large antennae which could track other planes and weather.

            “Don’t worry about this guys,” Umbreon said to them. “It will just be a little bit loud.” “And fast,” He added in.

            He revved up the engines to full power and the plane started to move as the engines revved up to 3,200 rpm. The noise from the engines wasn’t as loud as it had been in the Bf-110. They were actually quiet, But the power could be felt as the plane continued to accelerate. The ground dropped out under them as Umbreon tilted the plane to a 30° incline to help it climb. He retracted the takeoff flaps and the gear as they gained speed. He tilted the nose down to 10° and slowed the engines to 90%.

            “I am so glad you came back to us, we thought you had deserted us,” Jolteon said. _Deserted._ The word hit him hard. For a second, he thought he could see a windy desert filling the air with an infinite amount of sand. He shook off the vision and focused on flying the plane. For some reason, he didn’t think about turning around to head east to their intended destination. “I knew you wouldn’t have abandoned us back here,” Pidgeotto said. _Abandoned._ The word struck him hard again. He felt a vision coming on.

            He was just and Eevee with his mother and father in the desert. His brother and sister had died in the harsh desert climate, which was now draining their precious resources of food and water in a drought. Blackness. Then he found himself looking down at a tan concrete airstrip buzzing with large B-17 bombers. All of the humans were training for something. Blackness again.

            He was trapped against the wall of their little sandstone cave. His mother lay dead behind his father, who had gone crazy and killed her. His father was now threatening him, eventually leading to the words of “I’ll just have to abandon you here to die alone.” He had been deserted. He had hitched a ride of one of the bombers to see where it was going. Unfortunately for him it was going to Britain, where it would go on missions in the war. He was unable to clearly see what happened there. Blackness.

            He had made it back to the desert a three months later on a lucky return flight. Suddenly, the plane dropped from the sky and crash landed into the desert below. The plane landed and exploded. Everyone on the plane was killed, except for Eevee, who now lay a few hundred feet from the burning plane, barely alive in the hot desert sun. The daylight started to fade and he looked towards the east, where the moon was rising. _I have to follow it to get out of here._

            He traveled by night through the timeless desert, as his mother called it. It was rumored that if anyone got lost, time would slip away from them, but no one knew what would happen next. He traveled under the darkness of night, following to moon to the point where it rose. Until he reached his to-be friends, the moon was his only friend, accompanying him on his night hikes.

            “Hey Umbreon!” Pidgeotto yelled.

            “What?” He responded.

            “Finally,” Jolteon said. “You’ve been silent for four hours.”

            “What?” Umbreon said, confused.

            “Why?” Pidgeotto said. “Why didn’t you speak?”

            “I–I… I guess I just got distracted.” Umbreon stammered.

            Silence.

            “So where are we going to land?” Jolteon asked.

            He remembered the dusty airstrip from his vision.

            “You won’t like it, but it is in a desert, you’ll see why.”

            “Why a desert?”

            “Because that’s where I can find my own past.” He had no idea what he was saying.

            Three hours later, they were stopped at a sand covered airfield in the middle of a desert. There was an old building complex to the left of the runway and B-17s dotted the right side, there must have been over 40 of them.

            “What are those?” Jolteon asked.

            “B-17s,” Umbreon blurted out without thinking.

            “I need to go in there,” Umbreon said as he ran off towards the dilapidated buildings. His friends followed him without a choice.

            They caught up with him after he had found an old dusty-green journal. He was reading it.

 

_June 19 th, 1942,_

_I saw the Eevee who likes to hang around the airfield get in one of the bombers that was headed out to Britain. I wanted to stop him. He looked young and starving. There was nothing I could do to stop the Eevee from going to the war. The plane left before I could get out to it. I wonder if it will ever make it back._

 

            Umbreon had another vision, He was watching as a man in a camouflaged long shirt and long pants uniform with a matching hat ran out to the plane as it was departing. Eevee would go unnoticed until it reached Britain, where it would sneak onto planes flying in missions. Every time hoping to be one going home, but he was always met with yelling men, the sound of heavy machine guns, and death surrounding him. He remembered he made it back to the desert on a plane which eventually crashed.

            Umbreon flipped through the book. Looking for anything hinting back at him. He ignored his friends as they were staring at him.

 

_September 25 th, 1942,_

_A returning plane has crashed. Killing all men on board. We found it three days after it was supposed to land, just one mile east of the base. When I got there, I noticed Eevee paw prints leading away from the wreckage, leading east into the timeless desert. I knew it was the same Eevee because the paw prints were small and started after a mark in the sand, giving proof that it was ejected from the plane. I wish I could go and find it, but I don’t want to get lost too._

 

            “What year is it?” Umbreon said, his voice stern.

            Pidgeotto and Jolteon exchanged glances, surprised by Umbreon’s strange behavior.

            “What year is it?” He asked again, more panicked.

            “It’s 2027,” Jolteon dared to reply.

            “2027!?” Umbreon yelled. “That means… I have been out for…” He trailed off.

            “What is wrong,” Pidgeotto asked.

            “84 years…” Umbreon was shocked by the sudden flow of memories coming at him.

            His friends watched as he collapsed to the ground, his sides shaking. They rushed over to him and found him sobbing.

            “I–I–I remember ev–everything…” Umbreon sobbed. “It’s too much.”

            They both stayed at his side waiting for him to calm down. By the time he got up he was in a completely different mood.

            “I need you to come with me,” Umbreon said “Please”

            “Okay,” Jolteon replied.

            They both followed him as he walked into the desert. He seemed to know exactly where he was going. None of them knew what would happen next, not even Umbreon.

 

Chapter 11

Give Up

 

            It was only a few minutes until Umbreon saw the old sandstone cave where he once lived. The spring that had dried up just before his father went insane was back. He walked into the small cave, the floor was covered in fine sand. There was a small dry stick that was sticking out of the ground near the back of the cave. Umbreon walked up to it and sat down. He just sat there with his eyes closed and his head hung down, tears dotting the dry desert sand. Jolteon and Pidgeotto had no idea what was happening. All they knew was something was connecting Umbreon to this place.

            “Ah,” A voice sounded form outside the cave. “You’re back you little nighttime menace.”

            Umbreon whisked around. Looking past his two friends, he saw a Pokémon called an Espeon, the light Pokémon. It was also psychic. It made perfect sense to him, He only knew one corrupt Pokémon who liked the hot desert sun.

            “I see we have met in the midst of the timeless desert,” Umbreon said as he did a quick mental scan, proving to him who Espeon really was.

            “Now I can finish you off once and for all,” Espeon said smoothly, a hint of evil in his voice. “And after you are dead, I will kill your friends too.”

            “No you won’t,” Umbreon spat back.

            “It’s useless. I am a psychic type while you are just a dark type. You have no power over me.”

            “That’s what you think. If you want to kill my friends, you’ll have to go through me.”

            “You don’t know when to give up.”

            Psychic types are useless against dark types, right? But this too, will be later explained.

            Espeon started out by trying to tackle him, but Umbreon used agility to get out of the the cave, where he would have been cornered. His friends were already outside.

            “I guess I’ll just have to use some _psychic attacks_ ,” the corrupt Espeon said, emphasizing the last two words.

            Espeon’s red circle above his eyes started to glow a harsh red. Umbreon knew what he was doing and quickly countered the psychic attack with one of his own, causing the air to ripple with energy. The Espeon looked surprised.

            “I am stronger than you thought, aren’t I,” Umbreon said.

            Espeon sprung forward and tackled him as hard as he could. Umbreon slipped on the loose sand as he tried to get away and fell of his back, leaving his underbelly exposed. Espeon jumped on him and went for his neck, just as with his mother.

            Umbreon pushed the Espeon off of him with a push from all four of his paws. Umbreon quickly got up and attacked him quickly with a psychic attack. Causing the Espeon to be flung back, but it didn’t do anything to it. Umbreon was becoming enraged, his attacks only increasing in power until he was out of it. They battled for a long time, their power equally matched. They both tried another psychic attack, meeting in the middle, the air rippled and crackled with the high energy.

            This time, Espeon’s attack came through to Umbreon, causing him to be pushed back, but his paws remained grounded in the sand. Espeon had the energy advantage here. The hot sun was taking its toll on the night-loving Umbreon. He was overheating and losing energy faster than normal. Umbreon lunged forwards for another attack, but Espeon had more strength. His friends watched as Espeon used an extremely powerful psychic attack, causing Umbreon to be flung straight up into the sky to be swallowed by its endless sea of blue.

            “He could never as strong as I am,” Espeon said to himself. “Now it is time to take care of you two.” Espeon started to approach them.

            Still ascending into the sky, Espeon’s words rung in his head. _After you are dead, I will your fiends too._ He winced at the thought of his friends dying. He started falling as Espeon released his psychic grip, thinking he was high enough to not be of concern. _You have no power over me._ They stayed in his head the longest.

            “No,” Umbreon said to himself. “You may have power over me, but you don’t have the guts to keep going. You’ve been right about only one thing ever. I don’t know when to give up.”

            The air rushed by him faster as he streamlined his body to get the maximum speed out of his freefall. He looked for signs of Espeon on the ground far below. As he was descending faster and faster, he had a faint memory of pilots from the war talking about Japanese suicide attacks on boats and bombers during the war. _Kamikazes._ As he neared the ground he spotted his father and used his ears and tail to aim himself. He used a quick attack to further gain speed. The wind rushed past him, he was traveling well above terminal velocity.

            On the ground below, both his friends were trapped at the cave entrance. Espeon standing triumphantly just outside of it. They heard a noise from above. It was a crackle, they looked up to see a white spot falling fast.  Umbreon yelled as he streaked down from the sky, and slammed into the unsuspecting Espeon. The shock from the attack was tremendous. Almost blowing Pidgeotto and Jolteon back from the shockwave and the sand blast.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 12

To Kill

 

            The desert wind howled as the dust was blown away from the impact site. They expected both Umbreon and Espeon both to be dead. They found a divot in the sand with Espeon lying half buried. The blank expression in his open eyes and the evil grin sealed onto his face said it all, he was dead. They found Umbreon a few hundred feet from the impact site. Jolteon ran over to Umbreon with Pidgeotto flying close behind.

            Umbreon was lying on his side with his legs splayed out. His expression showed one of extreme pain.

            “Umbreon?” Jolteon cried out as he nudged his body with his nose. “Are you okay.”

Nothing.

            “Umbreon?” Jolteon tried nudging him again.

Umbreon winced, still deep in unconsciousness.

            “He is almost dead,” Pidgeotto nervously said. “We need to move him, gently, out of this sun.”

 

———

 

            It was almost an hour before they got him into the cave. The sun was setting. Soon the full moon rose and shone brightly into the cave. It was the biggest and brightest moon they had ever seen. They were looking at it when a glow started coming from behind them. They turned around and looked. The moonlight was flowing over Umbreon’s broken body, and the icy blue markings were glowing. They were stunned by what the moonlight could do and remained silent.

            “Wha?” Umbreon said weakly as he opened his eyes. “Where am I?”

            Jolteon and Pidgeotto were relieved by this.

            “We were so worried about you,” Jolteon said, relived. “What were you thinking by doing that.”

            Instead of getting an answer, Umbreon stared at the moon. Then, he got up from where he lay and limped over to the cave entrance. They followed him up to the top of the cave entrance, where an old scraggly tree was rooted into the dry desert sand. They watched from a distance for hours as Umbreon sat and watched the moon. Unknowing to them, he was playing back all of his memories.

            As dawn broke, Umbreon broke free of the trance and turned around, where he found his friends sleeping together.

            “Wake up!” He shouted.

            Jolteon blinked his eyes open.

            “You’re okay!” He shouted, causing Pidgeotto to wake up.

            “He is okay!” Pidgeotto repeated.

            “I have just one place to go before we go. It’ll take a couple hours to go there and back before we leave.”

            “But how did you get better?” Jolteon asked.

            “I’ll tell you everything on the plane ride to our first gym battle.” Umbreon responded normally, “Don’t worry about that either, I’ll tell you what the plan is after I tell you about what happened here, because you are both probably thinking: ‘What the hell just happened here.’ There’s many years of history here that you don’t know. So just follow me.”

            Pidgeotto and Jolteon were surprised at his sudden change in behavior, so they followed him through the desert in silence. They had been walking for a while through the desert until Umbreon suddenly stopped at the top of a sand dune.

            “Look down there,” He said.

            They both looked to see the ruins of what looked like one of the planes at the base. Umbreon walked down the dune to the cockpit of the plane. He stepped inside through a broken window, the barrel of a large machine gun poked out through the sand. They spent a while looking through the sand filled plane, wondering how it could’ve ended up here and how Umbreon knew about it.

            “I have always wanted to do this,” Umbreon said as he dug into the sand and strained to pull out a large metal box. It was perfectly preserved in the dry desert air. He emptied its contents onto the sand, which was about 35 pounds’ worth of 50 caliber M2 Browning machine gun ammunition. He unlinked some of the belt of ammunition and connected it into a circle. He then proceeded to put it around his neck. The tips of the bullets were facing out towards anyone looking straight at him, while the large brass casings were towards his tail.

            It fit him perfectly, even though it was heavy. “I want Pokémon to look at me and ask where I’ve been, and why I have these. They are live rounds, so they can still be shot, just like how I keep on battling, never giving up,” Umbreon said. “Now let’s take this empty ammunition box and get out of here.”

 

Chapter 13

War

 

            Umbreon throttled up the engines in the plane. Pidgeotto sat behind him and slightly to the right, while Jolteon was right next to him. The plane sped down the runway, gaining speed as the propellers spun around and around. It lifted smoothly into the air and Umbreon put it into a sharp turn to head east. They soon flew over the wrecked bomber and continued on flying. At 14,500 feet and the throttle at 90%, the plane flew at 460 miles an hour.

            “We should have enough fuel to get where were going, right,” Pidgeotto asked, just to make sure

            “We have plenty,” Umbreon responded. “Now I will tell you about what happened there and in my past.”

            “So,” Umbreon started, “When I was just a little Eevee back in 1942, I thought our life was very good. I didn’t know that the world was so big and that there were so many other Pokémon out there. Much later on, when I had the resources, I learned all I could about the world and anything else that interested me.

            So going back to long ago, I was just a curious little Eevee growing up with a good mother, father and a brother and a sister. One day, a massive storm came by, wiping out most of the food resources we had. A drought soon started after the storm. Later on, my brothers and sisters had died from starvation and the rest of us were barely surviving. I went and watched the training base most days, every time getting closer and closer. One day, I decided to go into the base.

            Everyone there was relieved to see me there, from all of this war, they didn’t see much else than other humans and bombers. They started giving me food, which I would eat some and then take some back for my parents. My father didn’t like me leaving the cave to go to the base, but it brought back food, which was good.

            A few months later, the spring dried up and my father went insane for no reason, He killed my mother in front of me and then threatened me before turning around and leaving me to die in the harsh desert climate. I knew better than just to stay there and die, so I buried my dead mother and headed for the training base, where I got onto a plane to try and escape easily. Unfortunately, it was heading into war, but the men on the plane treated me well.

            It was cold when they were flying, but my thick fur coat which insulate me from the sun’s heat, also insulated me from the extreme cold. After a long flight, we landed in a city to refuel. One of the men came up to me and said, ‘You’d be better off getting out here, unless you want to see the dark side of the world.’ I didn’t want to because I hated the city, it was too loud and dirty compared to the emptiness of the desert.

            We flew on for an even longer amount of time until we landed in a very different place. The runway was huge; I mean just massive. It was about 400 feet wide and about 7,000 feet long. I stayed at this base and became their mascot or something like that. I was taken good care of and I liked life at this base much more than in the desert. Eventually, I heard enough conversations that I pieced together some information.

            I was on Britain and they were in the midst of a huge war, called World War Two or WWII. The Germans or Nazis had conquered most of Europe and were attacking Russia too. I later saw maps in my research and the amount of land they had conquered was huge. We were the good guys and they were the bad ones. Our side was called the Allies and theirs was the Axis.

            Two weeks after I had landed at this base, I snuck onto a plane, which I soon found out was called a B-17. They saw me, but only after they had taken off and were a few hours into it. I sat in the frigid air on a bit of metal between the two pilots, looking out of the windshield with my happy Eevee face, listening to the drone of the four engines. Later, things started to change. Everything changed.

            Everyone got loud and were shouting at each other. The men positioned at the machine guns started shooting and smaller planes, which were Axis, returned fire. So they were trying to soot us out of the sky as we tried to shoot them down too. Black smoke dotted the air around them.

            Other bombers in formation were taking more damage than us as the bombs that were loaded into the plane fell out onto the enemies. I watched as many bombers caught fire, exploded, broke apart, or just simply fell out of the sky. By the time we headed home, I was extremely scared, but I had also found that experience to be interesting.  I had never left my spot on the bit of metal between the pilots.

            Five missions later, I was known as the lucky Eevee, as whichever plane I rode in would have a 100% chance of making it home, all I had to do was ride between the pilots. On two out of the five missions, the plane I rode on was the only one to return. On the sixth mission, I had fully figured out how planes were steered and how the throttles worked.

            On the 19th mission I went on, the plane plane I was on, with the tail markings of 207, took heavy damage during the mission. I left my post and walked around the drafty plane. There were holes covering every inch on the plane, and there were more bullets and flak, which the black puffs of smoke are called, hitting the plane.

            There was a large hole in the side of the plane near the rear where I didn’t dare to go, as I could’ve been sucked out of the plane. As I was walking back, I stepped in something wet and somewhat sticky. I looked down to find I was standing in a pool of blood from the dead top turret gunner. I rubbed off the blood from my paws and went back to my spot. Suddenly, the right side of my body was covered in blood. Flak had exploded near the plane, causing shrapnel to hit the copilot and kill him. If he hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here today.

            I learned sacrifice there, and what it was like to see someone die protecting what was important, the good cause. By the time we were approaching the base, one of the engines caught on fire on top of one of the engine not working at all, and the plane was becoming difficult to control. They bailed out of the plane just a few miles south from the base. The last man to exit was the pilot, who had gone to the door and was about to jump out when he remembered to take me with him. He started to walk back, but slipped and fell out of the plane.

            I was left with three dead men and a plane. There was silence, except for the struggled drone of the two remaining engines. The base was in sight, we were almost lined up to land, and we were about an hour behind the last plane to land. We would’ve been the last to arrive, but I was now alone. I noticed that the runway was almost lined up with us. I jumped onto the rudder pedal and looked back at the runway. Now all I had to do was descend.

            The fire from the engine had spread to the fuel tank, which was burning away the wing. I used the seat as a step and pointed the nose now by pushing on the lever. I wasn’t paying attention to the speed, so I was coming at the end of the runway at a hard angle at 220 miles an hour. That is 100 miles an hour above what is considered a fast landing. 30 feet above the ground, the wing had burnt too much to be supportive and broke off.

            The plane hit the ground at a weird angle and skid across the runway. Lifting back into the air as it slid off of the side at 110 miles an hour the plane turned around several times before planting itself into the ground. Luckily, the fuel tanks on the remaining wing hadn’t exploded or caught fire, so I was safe. I climbed out of the twisted plane, half my pelt matted with dried blood.

            When the men from the plane returned, they were stunned by the landing, and couldn’t believe that me, the forgotten Eevee, that they though had died in a crash far away from the base had crash landed the plane at the base. He truly was the lucky Eevee of the base. The crew got three new crew members and a new bomber, a B-29. It was named Lucky Eevee and had the number 207 on the tail. On the side there was a picture of me sitting on the panel between the pilots, with the classic happy Eevee face. For the 20th mission I flew on, it was in that plane. I sat on another panel between the two pilots and the mission went very smoothly.

            I felt an emptiness inside me, a longing to go home. I knew that there was nowhere to go home to, that this was my new home, but I still hitched a ride on a B-17 returning to the desert base. It fell out of the sky before I could reach the base. It hit the ground and exploded, killing all men on board, but flung me out into the desert.

            As I lay there in the sweltering heat, I thought I was going to die, but the sun set in the west, and the moon rose in the east. I decided that I would follow the moon to escape. I got up and started walking east, refreshed by the coolness the nighttime brought to me. The moon lit the way as I followed it into the timeless desert.”

            Umbreon was about to continue his life’s story when he was brought back to reality by a stalling engine. He looked down at the fuel and saw that it was dangerously low, he had overshot his destination and it was now dark. He noticed lights in the distance and grabbed the radio microphone. He used his psychic powers to talk English into it to the control tower.

            “Small aircraft UJP207 requesting emergency landing! Flying one engine down and dangerously low fuel!”

The radio crackled to life. “Roger UJP207. Distress signal heard. You are clear for landing.”

            He steered the plane towards the runway and noticed a line on objects blocking out some of the lights on a taxiway. _Oh shoot._ He thought. _This must be Binole International Airport!_ He was landing on one of the busiest runways in the world. The landing was smooth as one could be. Umbreon steered off on the runway and parked at a dark place by a hangar. “UJP207 to tower we are clear of the runway,” He said.

“Roger.” That was the only response.

            As they got out of the plane, the sound of jet engines filled the air.

            “Welcome to one of the busiest runways in the world,” Umbreon said. “Now I have no idea how we are going to get out of here.”

            “Well let’s just go into the forest and find a place to sleep,” Jolteon responded.

            They went into the forest outside of the airfield by climbing over the tall fence. They pushed their way into the bushes and made a little place to sleep. He wanted to continue where he left off, but he hadn’t slept for 40 hours. They all laid down and fell fast asleep.

 

———

 

            He woke up to the sound of Pidgeotto and Jolteon returning from gathering food. They had some type of berries, but at least it wasn’t another apple. They ate to the sound of jet engines in the distance.

            “So how are we going to get fuel for the plane?” Pidgeotto asked. “It costs a lot of money, right?”

            “Simple,” Umbreon responded. “We just come in at night and steal some from the fuel tank I parked next to.”

            “But that’s illegal!” Jolteon expressed.

            “So? We’ve already broken laws by climbing over the airfield fence and flying a plane without any type of permit or license. I mean, we are Pokémon, so I don’t think there’s rules that apply to us that apply to humans,” Umbreon said.

            “He’s got a point,” Pidgeotto said to Jolteon.

            Jolteon shook his head in response, he wasn’t convinced.

            “So,” Umbreon said, “Let’s finish what I started earlier.”

            “I traveled east only at night with the moonlight guiding me along. It was forty degrees cooler at night than it was during the day. I always found a ledge or a tree to sleep under during the hot days. I drank water from springs hidden under moist patches in the sand. As I was traveling, I noticed when I woke up to continue my nighttime journey, my tracks from yesterday weren’t there and I was covered in sand.

            I thought it was just sandstorms, but it happened every time I slept. I didn’t know it at the time, but time was slipping away, as I was a month into my trek out of the desert, it had been many years in real time.

            One night when I was traveling, I felt strange. The moon was full and bigger than I had ever seen it before. I felt happy for the first time in a long time. Suddenly, the feeling was amplified and I started to glow. I had no idea what evolving was and that it existed. When the glowing stopped, I felt different, so I looked down at my paws. They were black. I was surprised, so I looked at my tail, it was not fluffy like an Eevee’s, and it was black with a yellow stripe around it. I realized I had evolved and that I was an Umbreon, the dark Pokémon.

            By the time I reached the edge of the desert, it had been three months’ travel time for me. In reality, it had been 83 years, but I didn’t know that. I trekked through the unusual landscape. There was water everywhere, it rained frequently, food was plentiful and I saw many more Pokémon than what was in the desert.

            As I continued my trek, I started walking in the day again because it wasn’t as hot. Then I got into a battle with the swarm of Spearrows attacked me. How it started I don’t know.

            I was worn out from walking covering the distance that I had. I walked into a field and saw a river running through it. I walked up to it and took a drink. Then wiped the dirt off of my face with a wet paw. I turned around and noticed a few Spearrow watching from the top of a tree. I didn’t think anything of it and continued on my way.

            As I was walking through the forest, I heard a terrible screech. It came from above me and I looked up. About 70 Spearrow were diving at me, and I was confused because I hadn’t done anything to anger them. But when 70 Spearrow are diving on you, it’s scary. I ran as fast as I could though the forest. Jumping over logs, swerving around trees, barging through bushes. The Spearrow gained on me as they had little to dodge.

            It was in the same clearing that you guys found me that I decided my luck was up and I would try strength instead. Even though I was terribly outnumbered, I knew I had to do something. Maybe if I defeated enough of them, that the rest would be scared off. I planted my paws into the ground and skid on the ground, causing me to turn around before I stopped. I leaped into the air and grabbed one of the wretched birds and took it to the ground. These weren’t birds that liked to give up.

            I fought for an hour trying to fight off the birds. They wouldn’t give up, so I knew I couldn’t stop until I dropped dead. I was bleeding and my energy was low. I was still fighting when you three came in and helped me out of there. Basically by dragging me into a cave that they couldn’t get into.

            Then you guys took me to the Professor’s lab where we all lived for a year. The entirety when I was there, I thought it was 1945. I couldn’t figure it out by all the technology because I hadn’t seen much of the world. And now we are here, trying to figure out where we are going and what we are going to do along the way.”

            “Well you’ve had an interesting and screwed up life,” Jolteon responded. “But who was that Espeon and how did you get better that quickly?”

            “Ah, that,” Umbreon said. “Espeon was my corrupt father who had wandered around the timeless desert and also got lost in time. Since he was an Espeon, I’m guessing he could sense when I got back there, or it was just pure coincidence. And then there’s the moon.

            I healed so quickly in the moonlight because It was the only thing accompanying me on my journey out of the desert. I evolved into a dark Pokémon, so we like the night. So never say there’s nothing magical about the moon.”

            “Well I guess that just about caps off what your life has been like,” Pidgeotto said. “I’d like to compliment you on that because it sounds so much like a story, but it’s real, and it’s real screwed up.”

            “But what about when he said he had the advantage over you?” Pidgeotto asked, “And you said you were a dark psychic type? Isn’t that wrong? And I thought dark was immune to psychic?”

            “I don’t know,” Umbreon responded, “It felt quite effective against me. And I know psychic attacks, so… I don’t know.”

            Later that night, they stole gas for the plane and prepared to reach their real destination, Vermilion, where Umbreon was going to surprise them with something they had forgotten about.

 

Chapter 14

Miscommunication

 

            It was dawn by the time Umbreon and the rest of the crew were back in the plane. Umbreon still had the small belt of 50 caliber ammunition around his neck. The ammunition box was still in the plane too. “UJP207 you are clear for takeoff,” the tower said. “Take off with throttle at 80% and take off after you have reached 150 miles an hour.” The rules were different for small planes on the busy runway.

            The flaps were set to take off and the throttle pushed to 80%. The engines revved up and the plane began to move down the runway. Unknowing to them, a large jet liner with 300 passengers on board had been cleared for take by a different person off of a runway that crossed paths with them. The radio crackled to life,

            “UJP207 watch out for traffic approaching fast left!”

            Umbreon looked to his left to see the passenger jet barreling down the runway. They would collide if either of them didn’t do anything. Both of them were going too slow to take off. Umbreon slammed the throttle to 100% as fast as he could, prompting a sudden change of engine tone. Alerting Jolteon and Pidgeotto to what was going on. They had been chatting and weren’t aware of the radio transmission.

            He pushed on the right rudder pedal, causing the plane to steer left. He was planning on slipping behind the long jet-liner. The tires squealed on the concrete and the the plane skid into the grass. Umbreon had the nose pointed high into the air as they crossed the other runway, just a few dozen feet behind the massive jet. The jet’s exhaust violently shook the small plane as it lifted off of the ground.

            Now they were headed straight at the main terminal. Flying low over the taxiways and taxiing jets trying to climb. Umbreon tilted the plane to continue turning left. The terminal was barely 1,000 feet away. Umbreon continued to roll the plane to the left, almost causing it to fall out of the sky as it rapidly increased speed.

            He sped by the tower, still holding the plane at the steep incline and sharp turn. The man who had cleared them for takeoff watched as he saw the cream-colored underbelly of the plane fly right in front of him, missing the glass by an uncomfortably small margin. The tower was rattled the sound of powerful engines as it went by.

            Umbreon leveled out the plane, ignoring the angry protests from the tower and the plane they almost hit, he had just saved their own, plus 300 human lives. He felt good about himself as he sped away from the airport. “Shut up guys,” Umbreon spoke into the radio using psychic power to speak English. “I just dodged a plane and an entire terminal. Next, time cooperate better so that doesn’t end in disaster.” Unknowing to him, that day’s incident would be reviewed by the NTSB, which is the National Transportation Safety Board. They said that it was the tower’s failure to communicate which caused the near miss, but the pilot of the Heinkel should have his license revoked for the risky maneuver.

            They had no idea who the pilot was, but they found video evidence of the incident from many cameras, including one mounted on the top of the tower. The camera clearly pictured, in high quality slow-motion of course, that no human was flying the plane. They briefly saw a blue and black mystery Pokémon traveling with a Jolteon and a Pidgeotto, and the mystery Pokémon had a chain of 50 caliber ammunition from the war, which was WWII. Umbreon wasn’t known to the general public as a known Pokémon yet, but soon, it would be known to everyone. But there was no need to say that the people who reviewed this were extremely confused. Umbreon had officially started his journey of mischief.

            As Umbreon piloted the plane on its hour long journey to Vermilion, a huge storm was approaching. Umbreon saw a wall of grey clouds a few miles away blocking his line of sight. They were flying at 20,000 feet because there had been warnings of extreme turbulence below that. He looked at his radar screen to see a huge blob of red, and they were flying right into it.

                                             As they entered the clouds, moisture droplets appeared on the outside of the glass bubble, only to be blown away by the wind. The plane shook slightly as the clouds engulfed them. “What’s that shaking?” Jolteon asked, obviously concerned.

            “Don’t worry about it,” Umbreon responded. “It’s just a little bit of wind. You only need to be concerned when I am.”

            They flew on into the clouds. What Umbreon saw on the radar was a rainstorm raging below them. He saw the runway appear on the radar, they were 75 miles away from it, so they would have to descend to land shortly. As they got closer to Vermilion airport, Umbreon started to descend.

            As they lowed their altitude, the rain became very heavy and lightning exploded around them. Then they hit a wall of turbulence at 13,000 feet. Umbreon looked at the wings as they flexed up and down violently. He didn’t know how much stress the wings could take.

            “Should I be concerned now?” Jolteon asked him.

            “Do I look concerned?” Umbreon replied with a question.

            “Yes,” Jolteon said

            “You really do,” Pidgeotto agreed with Jolteon.

            “Well, that’s because I am.”

            They were silent the for a little bit, listening to the sound of the shaking plane as they were thrown around the sky.

            “You sure you can land like this?” Jolteon questioned him further.

            “Nope,” Umbreon responded. “But we can’t fly on like this. So we have to land now.”

            They punched through the clouds at 1,500 feet and all they saw was water falling through the sky. Umbreon kept the engines at a high throttle so they wouldn’t drown in all the rain. Steam poured out of the exhaust. “UJP207 to Vermilion tower, requesting permission to land,” Umbreon said.

            “Vermilion airport is closed due to hurricane force winds and heavy rain,” the radio crackled.

            “We are a small aircraft with nowhere else to go, we need to land here because this pane can’t stay in the air like this for a long time. The turbulence will bring us down.”

There was a pause.

            “UJP207 cleared for landing. Slow way down, you are traveling way too fast. We don’t want any accidents on the runway.”

            “The engines will drown at low throttle. I don’t feel like having myself and two others pulled out out of a wrecked plane somewhere out here.”

            “If you know best, continue your decent as you plan.”

            Umbreon looked at the speedometer, it was at 220 miles an hour, but the radar told him there was a 70 mile an hour head speed. He was really traveling at 150 miles an hour. He reduced the throttle slightly so he could extend the gear without them falling off. The entire plane shook violently as he spotted the runway lights just half a mile out. The gear was extended as he put the plane down at a speed of 130 miles an hour. The downpour of water was too much for the runway to drain, so the plane was hydroplaning straight down the runway.

            Umbreon stepped on the brake, the wheels locked up and the plane started to slide. The plane started to spin as the wheels couldn’t get grip on the water. The plane skid off into the grassy area between the runway and the taxiway. The grassy area was filled with water, causing the plane to abruptly stop.

            “Landed it,” Umbreon said, breaking the tension.

            He throttled up the engines again and taxied towards an old hangar. He parked the plane and turned the engines off. The four bladed propellers stopped spinning and Umbreon opened the cockpit. They got out onto the wet plane and jumped to the dry concrete floor. Umbreon’s bullets clanked as he landed on the ground.

            “Let’s stay here until the rain stops,” Pidgeotto proposed.

            “Sure,” Umbreon responded. “If the rain hasn’t stopped by tomorrow morning, we will head out into it.”

            “We can’t just stay in here forever,” He added on as he saw Pidgeotto open his beak to protest.

 

Chapter 15

Torrential

 

            Umbreon woke up the next morning to the sound of heavy rain on the metal roof. It was still pouring. The storm had stalled and was stuck over the city and the surrounding area, and it was just gaining power. He looked out of the large doorway to see the white fogginess caused by rain. “Do you think we should go out there?” an unfamiliar voice asked behind him.

            He spun around to see that it was only Eevee, who had changed into a Glaceon.

            “We have to,” Umbreon responded. “We have to get to the city. We’ll be better protected there.”

            “How far is it to get to the city?” Glaceon asked.

            “About two miles away. So it would take 30 minutes to walk, in good weather. So we might be walking for hours depending on how bad it is. Storms like these only make me stronger, along with snowstorms.”

            A few minutes later, they woke up Pidgeotto and walked into the rain. It was coming down in sheets, instantly soaking them as they stepped outside. They trudged down one of the taxiways, heading to a dark shadow, which was the main terminal. They were being blown around by the strengthening winds. Umbreon was acting as a wind barrier for them as they trudged on.

            They reached the terminal to find one of the doors blown open by the wind. They walked inside to find a maze of dark carpeted hallways. Power had been cut out to the entire city in the storm.

            “Where do we go?” Pidgeotto asked.

            “I know as much as you do,” Umbreon replied. “So follow me and don’t split up. I have great night vision so I can see a lot of things you can’t.”

            Another effect from the Pokéball glitch; he could actually see well in the dark, as a true dark type should.

            They headed off into the maze. Pidgeotto and Glaceon followed the glowing blue ring on Umbreon’s tail. He had made it glow so that they could easily follow him. They walked around for a long time before Umbreon discovered that the only way to get up was the elevator he had found earlier. They walked back to it and walked into the open doors. The power was out so Umbreon had to find another way up.

            He looked up to see a service panel. He gathered his energy to leap up and hopefully hit it open. He jumped and hit it, causing the thin panel to break open. He hung onto the edge and pulled himself up.

            “Come on up guys!” He yelled.

            As they pulled themselves up, he spotted a small metal ladder built into the side of the elevator shaft that led up to the terminal floor, about 25 feet above. Umbreon and Glaceon struggled to climb up as Pidgeotto simply flew past them and waited on a small ledge. Umbreon was met with closed elevator doors on the terminal floor.

            “Glaceon, push the other door,” Umbreon said.

            They managed to open the doors just enough so that they could squeeze through. Outside of the elevator, they were met with a spooky sight. The only light was the grey light that was coming in through the massive windows. The light reflected off of the tile floor and filled the entire place with a dim grey light. There was nobody else around and everything was silent.

            “Let’s go find the exit,” Umbreon said, his voice echoing unnaturally down the empty corridor.

            They walked down the hallway and found many food stands, most of them were closed. As they neared the end of the hallway, they found a pretzel stand that wasn’t shut up. They jumped on the counter and each grabbed a large pretzel from the strange case. They sat on the floor as they ate the stale pretzels. It was all they could get to eat in the massive airport.

 

———

 

            They reached the exit of the airport after walking through the security and checking areas. They were met with even more massive windows and glass doors. After a quick check of the doors, Umbreon concluded that they were all locked.

            “What’s wrong?” Glaceon asked.

            “All of the doors are locked,” Umbreon responded. “How about you use an ice spike attack to break a window.”

            Glaceon opened his mouth and small ice spikes were shot at the window. It took a few seconds, but the window broke and collapsed inwards. Wind and rain filled the once, silent corridor, making papers fly everywhere. “I guess we’ve caused more harm than good by doing this,” Umbreon said as they stepped out into the rain.

            Unknown to them, a fleet of security cameras operated on a backup battery had captured their entire journey through the airport and out the broken window. After they left, it was unknown where they went. Under further investigation as soon as the power came back on, it was confirmed, somewhat, that it was the same trio of Pokémon who almost crashed at the Murainn airport. But what was the ice Pokémon from and where’d the Jolteon go?

            They walked out in the middle of the road and hiked towards the exit. After a bit of walking, they found themselves on a highway ramp. Umbreon looked up and managed to make out a sign that said: “Vermillion, keep right.” They went right in the ramp and continued on. The walls on the sides of the ramp that usually kept cars on the road now acted as a wind barrier.

            They eventually reached the empty highway and stayed close the barrier. Umbreon felt a larger amount of water start to splash over the concrete barrier.

            “Hold on guys!” He managed to yell to them in the raging storm. “I’m going to take a quick look over this to see where we are.”

            He peered over the barrier to see nothing but three-foot-tall waves blown towards the highway by the wind, but the barrier was keeping them relatively safe. The large river bordering the left side of the city had risen eighteen feet during the storm, and it was continuing to rise.

            “We have to get to the bridge before the river gets us!” He yelled to his friends through the wind. They made their way towards the bridge as fast as they could.

            They were wading through belly deep water as they got the bridge got into sight. Pidgeotto was standing on Umbreon’s back because he couldn’t walk through the water. They finally made it to the bridge and Pidgeotto got off of his back. “What do we do?” Pidgeotto asked him. “It is starting to get dark out.” Umbreon looked at the sky and saw that it was getting darker. They had been walking for eight hours.

            “We get to the top of this bridge, and then we spend the night there,” Umbreon responded. The center of the bridge was about 100 feet above the water when it is at a normal height. When they eventually reached the top of the bridge, it was almost entirely dark. They found a three sided box of concrete jutting out from the side of the bridge. They walked in and laid down, the wind was blowing the rain right over them. They were safe, for now.

 

Chapter 16

Surprise

 

            Umbreon woke up to the sound of an idol diesel engine. He stood up to see a large orange truck on the opposite side of the bridge. The sun was already high in the sky as he woke Glaceon and Pidgeotto up. The day was perfectly clear, not a cloud in the sky, and the storm had moved on during the night. The warm sun felt good on their damp bodies as they walked back onto the roadway.

            The devastation was clear. The river flowed twelve feet above normal, filling the city with three feet of water. The sun reflected brightly off of the still water, giving the illusion that the city was floating in an endless abyss of sky-blue.

            They walked towards the city on the concrete bridge and hoped that there would be a way to get around. Umbreon looked far down the street to see the light reflecting off of the orange half-sphere of the Vermillion gym. He had yet to tell his friends where they were going.

            “So where are we going?” Glaceon asked him.

            “We are going to do something that will make history,” Umbreon responded. “We are going to be the first trainer-less Pokémon team to compete in gyms and at a place called the Indigo Plateau.”

            “Okay.” Glaceon responded “Will we get anything out of this?”

            “Pikachu will be there.” That’s all Glaceon needed to be with this idea.

            “Are you okay with it?” Umbreon asked at he looked at Pidgeotto.

            “Sure,” He responded. “I think it will be fun.”

            “So, surprise guys. This is what we came here for,” Umbreon said. “Now let’s get moving.

            They made it to where the water started and the bridge ended. Umbreon walked into the water only to return to the dry land; the water was too deep.

            “Glaceon?” Umbreon asked. “Can you possibly be able to freeze the water into ice so we can walk on it?”

            “Sure,” Glaceon responded. “Pidgeotto, you can just fly around, we are going to the orange structure down there. You can fly around the city or something, if you want.”

            Glaceon put a paw on the water and froze a small piece of it. He continued stepping forward, creating a narrow path of melting ice. Pidgeotto flew off as Umbreon followed Glaceon down the street, leaving a small trail of melting ice. They walked past people in small boats with paddles and civilians wading through the water. They started seeing more people dressed in bright orange vests giving out supplies and helping as much as possible.

            People stared at them and talked among themselves. It isn’t every day that you see two undiscovered Pokémon in the middle of a flooded city. Especially an ice Pokémon creating a path of ice for the shiny dark type Pokémon wearing war-era bullets around his neck. Both of them had to keep an eye out for any people who would want to capture them. They managed to get to the gym without any trouble, but they did get a lot of strange stares. The water level had decreased by a foot and a half when they reached a small hill that the gym was on top of.

            He sent a quick psychic message to Pidgeotto, who was gliding lazily over the city. Pidgeotto quickly returned to where Umbreon and Glaceon were standing. They walked up the the double doors of the gym and walked in. They were inside the Vermillion gym.

            “The arena should be at the center of this place.”

            They walked down the now brightly lit hallway; the power had been restored to the city. Umbreon stopped as they reached the large double doors to the arena entrance.

            “Am I allowed to say that I’m very nervous about this?” Umbreon asked.

            “You aren’t the only one, so yes,” Pidgeotto asked.

            “I’m just afraid of what will happen inside of here,” Glaceon said.

            “Well we’ve had so much trouble getting this far,” Umbreon said pushing to open the doors.

            They walked in and the doors shut behind them. _There is no going back now._ Umbreon thought.

            “I challenge the leader of this gym to a battle.” Umbreon said, using his psychic powers to speak English without even opening his mouth.

            “I accept,” A voice said from behind a curtain at the other side of the gym. “What is your name?”

 

Chapter 17

The Gym

 

            “I am called Umbreon,” Umbreon spoke again.

            “Umbreon?” The voice said. “That sounds like the name of a Pokémon, not a name of a person.”

            “Well then, you should come out and look.”

            The curtains opened and a man walked out. He was wearing black pants and an electric blue T-shirt. He had a square face and looked to be in his 20s. Umbreon couldn’t make out much more from across the arena.

            The man spoke again. “Where is your trainer?” He asked to Umbreon, not expecting to get an answer from the Pokémon.

            “I don’t have one,” Umbreon responded.

            The man looked shocked, but forced himself to remain cool. “That’s nonsense.”

            “I never said I make sense.”

            “So have you come here to battle for a badge, because I don’t think I can give one to a Pokémon.”

            “I have come here for a badge and there isn’t a rule saying that a trainer-less Pokémon can battle for one.”

            “Alright. Let’s get to it. It’ll be a two on two battle. If that is okay.”

“It’s fine.”

            From the man’s point of view, he saw the mystery Pokémon call out to one of the two Pokémon at the back of the room, sitting close to the door. The blue one stepped forwards. He didn’t know what this one was either.

            “This is Glaceon,” Umbreon said. “He will battle first.”

            Glaceon stepped forward into the lines marking the battle area. It looked like a smaller version of a soccer field. The man stepped into the trainer’s box. He wasn’t used to battling Pokémon without a trainer, so the trio of Pokémon had the edge.

            “Weepinbell, I choose you!” The man said as he threw a pokéball into the battle area.

            “Glaceon,” Umbreon said. “You are weak against grass type. You’ll have to rely on your mind instead of your strength. Remember that we’ll only need to win one, but two would be great.

            “Weepinbell, use razor leaf!” The man commanded.

            Weepinbell threw razor sharp leaves at Glaceon, but Glaceon intercepted them with shards of ice. Glaceon immediately used ice shard, which hit Weepinbell as it tried to dodge.

            “Weepinbell, use your vine whip to pick it up!” Glaceon tried to dodge its attack but the vines wrapped around his body. Glaceon struggled to free himself but he wasn’t strong enough. “Weepinbell use slam!” Umbreon watched as Weepinbell slammed Glaceon into the ground three times before leaving him lying there.

            “Come on Glaceon! Get up!” Umbreon yelled, willing his friend to get up. Glaceon struggled to his feet and used a tail whip followed quickly by an ice fang attack. The Weepinbell was at a high level and continued to fight strong.

            “Weepinbell, use stun spore!” Weepinbell spewed out an orangeish powder that floated through the air towards Glaceon, who held his breath and closed his eyes.

            Weepinbell stopped his attack and Glaceon gasped for air. He breathed in a little bit of the spore after he started to breath and his movements were slightly limited.

            “Weepinbell, use acid!” Glaceon made an ice wall, blocking the attack, but the acid melted through it. Glaceon was coated in the stinging fluid. He couldn’t take much more. Glaceon managed to get a quick attack in before returning to his position on the other end. He quivered for a second and collapsed. He had lost the first battle.

            Umbreon rushed out to him and helped him up. Umbreon supported Glaceon as they stepped out of the battle area.

            “I failed,” Glaceon said weakly.

            “It’s okay,” Umbreon responded. “You have to master many more attacks than we do, and you’ve only been like this for a couple of days.”

            Umbreon watched as Glaceon laid down next to Pidgeotto. He turned around and walked into the battle area, he had to win this.

            “I will battle for the second and final round,” He said psychically, intimidating the man. He started off with a strong quick attack, which finished off the weakened Weepinbell.

            “Weepinbell return!” The man took out another pokéball. “Go Arcanine!”

            Arcanine stood menacingly above Umbreon at just above six feet tall. It weighed in at about 350 pounds, 290 pounds heavier than Umbreon. Umbreon felt the heat radiate from the massive Pokémon. _Great. He managed to choose a personal weakness of mine without even knowing about me._ Umbreon thought. Umbreon planted his paws firmly onto the ground as Arcanine looked down at him.

            “Arcanine, use flamethrower.” He was starting off with powerful attacks. The heat hit Umbreon like a train. He managed to use his psychic powers to cause the fire to go around him. Arcanine stopped the attack. Umbreon stood in a circle of scorched earth. Umbreon used agility and then hit Arcanine in the side with a tackle attack. Arcanine was pushed over, but immediately got back up. Umbreon suddenly remembered something.

            If the bullets he was wearing around his neck got too hot, they would explode, killing him instantly. He had forgotten to take them off, but there was nothing he could do now. Maybe it was just a crude method of motivation.

            “Arcanine, use slash.” Arcanine rushed towards him and reached out with a heavy paw. Umbreon manages to get out of the way, but one of Arcanine’s claws scraped him above his eyes. Blood seeped from the wound.

            Umbreon retaliated with a toxic attack, causing Arcanine to be covered in a stinging fluid. It soon evaporated, but it had weakened it.

            “Arcanine, use tackle attack!” Umbreon couldn’t get out of the way in time as the heavy Pokémon grabbed him and sent him to the ground. The heat radiating off of the fire type burned him. He used all of his strength to get out from under it, worrying about the bullets.

            Umbreon decided that it had to end as soon as possible, he charged up a shadow ball attack and sent it at Arcanine. He hit it squarely and sent it back a good distance. He then used echoed voice to confuse it. It was standing, unable to comprehend the strange sound. Umbreon used a psychic attack to bring it to the ground, but it got up again. Umbreon’s vision was becoming red and blurry as the blood from the wound seeped into his eyes.

            “Arcanine, use giga impact!”

            The heavy dog ran at him, but Umbreon used agility to get himself out of the way.

            They both spun around to face each other.

            “Arcanine, use incinerate.”

            This was the move which could end Umbreon’s life. The gym leader was unaware about the explosive power in the bullets. Umbreon quickly charged up a hyper beam attack and aimed for Arcanine. The beam hit it and it was blown back in a cloud of dust. As the dust cleared, it became apparent that Umbreon, close to collapsing had defeated the mighty dog.

            “Congratulations,” The man said, somewhat in disbelief, “You’ve just earned you and your team a Vermillion badge.”

            Umbreon walked up the the trainer with a piece of black cloth with two loops at each end. He took the badge, which was an orange circle with a red hexagon in the middle, and pinned it onto the cloth, which he put onto the bullet necklace.

            “And by the way,” The man added on, “Where did you get those?”

            “I got these from a downed bomber in a desert, I have more history than time to explain and you wouldn’t believe it anyways, but I was in the great war. Where do you think the legendary B-29 Lucky Eevee got its name? I am Eevee, but evolved.” Umbreon replied.

            The man nodded in confusion and Umbreon turned to leave. He gathered his friends and staggered down the hall to the exit.

            “Where’s the nearest Pokémon center?” Umbreon asked Pidgeotto. “Glaceon and I need it badly.”

            “It is just a few blocks from here, follow me.” He responded.

            They followed Pidgeotto through the streets, which were no longer flooded.

 

Chapter 18

Tracked

 

            They reached the Pokémon center faster without all of the water on the road. It was a small blue and white building hidden among all of the skyscrapers. Umbreon pushed his way in through the doors, there had been sandbags to protect the interior from the water. A cut and burned Umbreon walked in with a ragged-looking Glaceon and a Pidgeotto behind it. There was no one inside the building. Umbreon knew from Pikachu about the nurses who are at the Pokémon centers, and how they all look the same and are all named nurse Joy.

            Umbreon walked up to the counter and jumped onto it. “Hello?” He said psychically, “We need some help.”

            “Hold on one second!” He heard a voice from behind a door.

            The door opened and nurse Joy walked out and stared at the bullets and badge on his neck.

            “Where is your trainer?” She asked him, not expecting to get a response from a Pokémon.

            “I don’t have one,” He replied without even opening his mouth.

            She looked surprised that the Pokémon had just spoken, without even moving a muscle.

            “Glaceon here also needs some help,” Umbreon said.

            With that, a Chansey walked out with a small bed that Umbreon and Glaceon got on to. They were taken into the back where they were bandaged and healed. The bullets on Umbreon’s neck had gotten hot and burned him. He was bandaged on his head, neck, chest and belly, while Glaceon was simply washed off and was okay after that. Nurse Joy walked out and called someone on the video-phone. Umbreon thought the voice was familiar. He put on the bullet chain, got Glaceon, and walked out of the room into the entrance area.

            Umbreon looked at the video screen and was shocked to see the Professor. “…saw these Pokémon and wondered if they were the ones who ran away,” Umbreon heard nurse Joy say.

            The Professor saw movement behind the nurse and saw Umbreon and Glaceon. The professor recognized him instantly, despite his changed appearance. “I see a couple behind you right now,” He said. The nurse turned around. Umbreon was frozen.

            “Run!” He yelled before running to the door with Glaceon and Pidgeotto close behind them.

            As they ran down the street, Umbreon made a plan. “Pidgeotto. You fly to the airport and Glaceon and I will get there on foot!” He yelled.

            Pidgeotto drifted upwards and out of sight from them. They kept running through the crowded city. The once empty highway they walked in of was too busy to go on. They reached the edge of the river and stopped. “Freeze the ice so we can walk on it,” Umbreon said.

            Glaceon stepped onto the water and started walking fast, creating a very narrow path that Umbreon could walk on. Drifting downstream in the current. On the bridge above, a police officer who had heard about the trio of Pokémon saw Umbreon and Glaceon and reported it. They would have a surprise waiting for them at the airport.

            After twenty minutes of running, they got to the entrance of the airport where Pidgeotto saw them and landed by them. “Pidgeotto, we’ll meet you be the hanger, so just fly there,” Umbreon said, “Well walk through the airport and get out there somehow.”

            Pidgeotto took off and left Umbreon and Glaceon by the entrance. They heard a voice yell at them from a distance away. They tuned to see a man in an official looking uniform running towards them. “We’ve been found!” Umbreon yelled, “Follow me!”

            Umbreon ran into the airport right with Glaceon close behind. He looked for one of the security checkpoints as they ran through the checking area. He found one and took a sharp left to go through it. His paws skid a little on the tile floor, but he kept running as fast as he could. They ran between the poles that divided the people to go to different places. They ran past the security checkpoint and all the TSA officials. Some ran after them and more were alerted about them.

            Umbreon realized that the bullets he was wearing didn’t help, they were classified as a high-explosive by the airport, and he had just broken past security. Umbreon hastily led Glaceon to a door that was open. People were going into it, a small regional jet was loading passengers. They ran down the jet way past the surprised passengers. They reached the plane and stopped.

            Umbreon jumped through the gap between the jet and the jet way. Glaceon followed behind. “You’re doing well!” He heard Pidgeotto call out from above. They ran on the roof of the plane until they reached the wing. They jumped into it, then jumped to the ground. They ran for the hangar in the distance. He hears sirens in the distance and a helicopter in the sky. That helicopter was filming the entire event and putting it on live news.

            Umbreon ran flat out across the airport. At full speed, Umbreon could run at 35 miles an hour. Glaceon could also go about that fast. They were crossing the landing strip when Umbreon noticed a plane hurtling towards them. Glaceon ran back to the other side while Umbreon put on extra speed. He dodged the landing gear, but the jet engines blew him down the concrete surface.

            He got back up and started running towards Glaceon, who was crossing the landing strip. He heard a pop in the distance followed by the whiz of something going by him. _There trying to shoot me,_ He thought. Glaceon looked behind him to make sure that Umbreon was behind him; he was. Umbreon heard more pops and the bullets kept missing him, but not by much. Umbreon caught up with Glaceon when they reached the hangar. Pidgeotto was waiting for them.

            They jumped in the plane and Umbreon instantly turned on the left engine and revved it up. The plane spun around while Umbreon started the right engine. The airport officials thought they had cornered them in the old hangar. Thousands watched live as a war-era plane appeared from the hangar, the trio of Pokémon in it. Umbreon had the throttle at 100% as he used a taxiway to take off. They gained speed and saw that there was a plane taxiing towards them.

            Umbreon pulled up hard on the stick and the plane lifted from the ground, clearing the other plane. They had plenty of fuel to make it to their next destination, wherever it was.

            “Glaceon and Pidgeotto,” Umbreon said, “Watch our six just in case we get some extra company.”

            Umbreon took the plane up to 14,000 feet where they flew as fast as they could; about 490 miles an hour.

            They flew on for four uneventful hours. Umbreon was skirting some angry looking clouds. He heard a tow pings on the radar. He looked down to see two blips approaching fast from behind.

            “I have two unidentified objects approaching very fast,” Umbreon said, “can you confirm?”

            “We don’t see anything,” Pidgeotto said.

            The two objects on the screen started slowing down as they got closer

            “I see two small fighter jets approaching at six o’clock at about 550 miles an hour,” Glaceon said.

            “Affirmative,” Umbreon said, mocking military speech.

            Umbreon flew straight on, only slightly adjusting his course to get next to the tall clouds. The two jets flew just off of his wingtips, one on the left and one on the right. They were escorting him. They were so close that Umbreon could see the pilots, and they could see the trio of Pokémon

            “Need anything boys?” Umbreon said psychically though the radio.

            “We need you to follow us and land. If you disobey, we have permission the shoot you down,” one of the pilot responded.

            “Where are we going?”

            “Just follow us.”

            Umbreon started to wobble the plane and reduced the throttle, causing the two jets to inch slightly away. They didn’t know how well a Pokémon could fly, or what it would do. The pilots didn’t like this sporadic movement.

            “Don’t pull any tricky shit on us.”

            “So what if I do?”

            Umbreon was pushing the limits.

            “Then we’ll ‘dispose’ of you.”

            “Prepare for turbulence,” Umbreon said to Glaceon and Pidgeotto.

            With that, Umbreon throttled up the engines, descended sharply, then pulled a sharp left into the dense cloud cover. The pilots watched as the plane pulled away. They followed him in. Umbreon watched as two small dots appeared from the planes. They were large heat-seeking missiles that have a reputation for not missing. Each plane could carry two of them.

            Umbreon pulled up sharply as they approached. The missiles couldn’t maneuver in time and got lost without a source of heat. Two more dots appeared. Umbreon dove. One of the missiles missed while one of them exploded dangerously close.

            They flew on into the storm as the turbulence become worse. He saw a purple blob with a bright white circle in it appear on his screen. The storm there was the worst that one could ever be. The two jets followed him as he went into the severe storm. The turbulence violently shook the plane. He just managed to see the two jets turn around to avoid the storm.

            He couldn’t see any more because a bright white light appeared as he went into the center of it. The plane was shaking so much that he feared it would simply break apart. The two jet pilots watched as the dot on the radar of the plane simply disappeared. They thought they had shot it down. One thing wasn’t right, in the following days, no wreckage was found in the general vicinity of the disappearance. They were just gone, without a trace.

 

Chapter 19

Flashback

 

            Umbreon had a vision. He was standing at the airfield after the 20th mission landed. He wanted to go on more missions, he had forgotten about his old home, but there was a small emptiness inside of him. He heard a familiar rumble of aircraft engines and saw a strange white plane in the distance. His memory was distant so he couldn’t see what it exactly was.

            There were three shapes outside of the plane. A black one walked up to him. He remembered that it was black and blue and there was something shiny on it. He barely remembered, but it told him to go to the desert. He didn’t want to go, but the figure persuaded him to go. “The bit of emptiness will only grow. Go back home and…” That is all he could remember from it.

            It told him to get on a plane the following morning. It would head home and he would be safe. Or at least that’s what it told him.

 

 

Chapter 20

Help… Anyone

 

            Umbreon woke up, flying through the darkness of the night. He had no clue where he was. The radio crackled in the back of the plane; something it hadn’t done before. Glaceon and Pidgeotto were both fast asleep, or unconscious, he couldn’t tell. He flew on in the blackness of night. It was perfectly clear out, no moon in the sky. He was flying at 10,000 feet exact. The only light was from the stars; he couldn’t see lights from any town or city. The instruments on the panel glowed dimly.

            “Glaceon. Pidgeotto. Wake up!” He barked.

            They blinked open their eyes.

            “What’s the point of waking us u…” Pidgeotto trailed off as he looked around. Everything was new about this dark sky. Glaceon was looking around too. “Where are we and how long have we been asleep.” He asked.

            “I don’t know,” Umbreon responded. “I don’t know anything about where and when we are.”

            The radio crackled in the background. The radar started to ping. Dots popped up in front of him. He stared at the screen in silence.

            “What’s wrong?” Glaceon asked.

            “Uh…. Look at this for yourself,” He responded, moving slightly so that they could see the radar. The dots marking each plane were densely packed ahead of them.

            “I have a bad feeling about this,” Umbreon said as he turned off the lights that flashed on the outside of the plane.

            They were flying just under about 150 planes heading the opposite way of them. Umbreon looked up and saw the faint outlines of twin turboprop engine planes flying over just 1000 feet above them. They were moving slowly through the air. Umbreon wondered what was going on. They went unnoticed below the planes and continued on through the darkness.

            Umbreon had an idea. He could use the radio to call to somebody to get details on where they were. The radio still crackled strangely.

            Umbreon spoke psychically, “UGP207 in distress. We are disoriented and flying through the darkness. We need assistance immediately.”

            The radio still crackled. Nothing broke the eerie silence.

            Suddenly, a harsh, static filled voice broke out of the silence, “Identifizieren euch auf einmal! Wer sind Sie und was sind Ihre Absichten!”

            They looked at each other in confusion. The man was speaking a different language.

            Umbreon got back to the radio, “Uh… We are looking for a way to orient ourselves.”

            “Sie sind im deutschen Luftraum fliegen! Identifizieren Sie sich!” The radio spat out more.

            Umbreon thought the word deutchen sounded familiar. He began to think, trying to remember where it was from. After a few minutes, he remembered. During the war, he had overheard wired transmissions that had the word deutchen in it a lot. _What does it mean?_ Umbreon thought. He remembered. “German!” He said out loud. We’re over Germany!

            “What’s that?” Glaceon asked

            “It is a country that we should be thousands of miles away from.” Umbreon responded, “But that doesn’t explain the perpetual darkness. I’ll try more with the radio, but we should start heading north. We could get to Britain. They speak English.

            “UGP207 in distress over Germany. Need a guide to get to an airfield in Britain.”

            The radio crackled. Radio silence.

            “UGP207 in distress over Germany. Someone help… Anyone. Please help,” Umbreon was becoming desperate.

            “UGP207, please identify yourself, how many souls are on board?” The radio said.

            “There are three, uh… men, flying blind.”

            “UGP207, what type of aircraft are you flying?”

            “We are flying a Heinkel He-219.”

            “How did you get your hands on one of those?”

            “That is for later, can we get a guide to an airfield, possibly in Britain?”

            “UGP207, can we get a description of the plane?”

            “Uh, yes. We are flying a white, twin-engine plane. It is 51 feet long with a wingspan of 61 feet. It had tricycle landing gear and a forked tail. It is slim and has four large radar antenna on the front of the bubble canopy. We have two twenty millimeter cannons and four thirty millimeter cannons, possibly loaded. We are currently traveling at about 300 miles an hour north.”

            “Thank you. I’ll radio this out to other pilots around so they don’t shoot you down.”

            _Shoot us down?_ Umbreon thought. _Why would they do that?_

            “Really quick question. Is it possible to land at a marge airfield in Britain which houses a squadron of B-17s and a so called ‘lucky’ Eevee?” It was a stretch.

            “Yes actually, I am stationed here, London RAAF base. I’ll bring you in to land there.”

            Umbreon was shocked that they got an answer like that. He looked at Glaceon and Pidgeotto. “Do you know what this means?” He asked them. They nodded.

            “Something else,” Umbreon said into the radio, “What year is it?”

            “Why?”

            “Well… We might be lost in more than one way.”

            “It is 1942.”

            “We would tell you what happened, but it is too complicated.”

            Umbreon looked back at Glaceon and Pidgeotto. “Well, welcome to the war,” Umbreon said, “This _IS_ hell on Earth.”

            They were speechless as they flew on.

            “UGP207, could you change your course slightly to the left?” The radio spoke.

            “Affirmative,” He replied as he shifted his course.

            “You should be in sight distance of the base in four hours at your speed.”

            “Watch our six,” Umbreon said to Glaceon and Pidgeotto, “Our lives could be at risk.”

            The sun had risen during the long flight. Daylight was now filling the sky as they flew on through the misty sky. “Uh, Umbreon?” Glaceon said.

            “Yes?” Umbreon responded.

            “I can see two planes approaching at high six,” Pidgeotto finished off.

            “Single or twin engine?”

            “Single engine. Traveling in a formation,” Glaceon responded.

            “Keep watching them, especially if they start to shoot at us.”

            The silent air was alive with stress.

            “They are now flying at a close range.”

            Umbreon turned around to see two Focke-Wulf 190 D-12’s following close behind. They were each armed with two twenty millimeter and one thirty millimeter cannons. The pilots decided when to end the He-219’s flight.

            Umbreon heard loud thuds echo through the structure of the aircraft. They were taking fire from the planes. He looked at the right wing to see the engine had black smoke coming out of it. It seemed to be a liquid as some of it condensed on the end of the engine housing. That was before they took more fire and the fuel tank mounted behind the engine caught fire. The large bullets did a lot of damage, and fast.

            Umbreon went evasive, pulling up and turning to try to escape, but the well trained Luftwaffe pilots kept right on the tail of the relatively slow maneuvering plane. They were only an hour and a half away from the base. They had to keep going. Umbreon looked at the panel as the oil pressure in engine one was dropping fast. It hit zero. Umbreon thought that just the sight of it was bad enough. The engine temperature started to rise.

            They shot at him more. Hitting him in the tail, threatening to cut off the tail controls. Umbreon continued to maneuver through the sky. He heard something shatter and whiz past him. There was a large hole in the front and back windows of the plane. A 20mm shell had just missed killing him. Umbreon tilted the plane to turn, right into the path that one of the pilots was firing on.

            The plane lurched and started to fall, the rolling motion turned the opposite direction, causing the plane to flip over and over. Umbreon saw a white chunk of metal fall past the plane. He didn’t know what was until he looked out over the right wing. He saw that it was about 10 feet shorter than it should be. Their wing had been partly shot off.

            They fell through the sky, the ground becoming closer, then the damaged left engine seized, stopping the propeller. The loss of power to the opposite side of the plane was just enough to stabilize the fall a little bit. It was all Umbreon needed to regain control of the plane. He got control in a nosedive to the earth. He managed to level it out, but the speed of the wind had broken the damaged windows, filling the cockpit with the loud wind. The German planes had left them for dead.

Chapter 21

A Familiar Place

 

            Umbreon was glad that the engine failed. The thrust imbalance had countered the lift imbalance. Now, they were flying at 210 miles an hour at a slight tilt. Umbreon decided to call for help. “UGP207 critically damaged! Need escort!” Umbreon yelled psychically into the radio. The radioman at the RAAF base barely heard the message over the sound of the wind from the broken windshield.

            “We are sending two P-51s over from escorting a returning bomber mission. They should be able to be with you in 10 minutes.”

            “Thanks! But there’s something else! We aren’t actually human!” Umbreon yelled.

            “If you aren’t people, then who, or what, are you?”

            “We are a trio of Pokémon! That’s all I have time for!”

            They flew on for fifteen more minutes before they heard the sound of engines. Glaceon was still keeping watch over the tail.

            “We have two more planes coming from eight o’clock!”

            Umbreon dared to look behind him. He was relieved to see two P-51s approaching.

            “Don’t worry about it!” Umbreon yelled back over the sound of the wind, “They are the escort!”

            Glaceon nodded in acknowledgement. Umbreon flew on as the two escorts flew right next to him. He could see the faces of the pilots, and they could see him. They looked surprised to see a strange Pokémon flying a severely damaged German aircraft.

            The plane was flying at a 10° tilt to the right. About 10 feet of the right wing was completely gone. The left engine was seized and the rear of the engine housing was severely burnt from the fuel fire. The tail section of the aircraft was riddled with holes, but the controls were still working. The cockpit glass was almost completely gone, and the most surprising, it looked as if the plane was modified to fit the Pokémon in.

            “UGP207 make a 45° turn right and prepare for landing,” The radioman said. Umbreon willed the plane in a slow right turn, careful not to unbalance the damaged plane. He saw the airfield five miles away. When he was getting closer. The men on the airfield caught sight of the plane and the escorts. “UGP207 slow down! You are going too fast!”

            Umbreon reduced the throttle and the plane’s speed began to drop. As he reached 180 miles per hour, the right side began to drop. He increased the throttle until he was traveling at 195 miles per hour. “I’m going as slow as I can!” Umbreon yelled into the radio. Umbreon was about a mile away from the base when he pulled the landing gear lever. The green lights on the panel never appeared.

            He tried again. Nothing. He tried one last time. Still nothing. He realized the hydraulic system which controlled the landing gear had been severed. He had nothing to safely land on. He thought about landing on the wet grass, but it would make the plane stop too quickly. He had to land on the concrete runway.

            Umbreon remembered something. It was distant, but he remembers the sound of a plane engine abruptly stopping and hearing a terrible scraping sound. He saw a smoking white shape sitting on the runway as he went outside.

            Umbreon shook the vision clear, focusing on the runway. He sped closer and closer to the runway. 75 miles an hour faster that what is considered a fast landing. Also, he had to land on the belly of the plane. He descended just above the surface of the runway and hung there for a second. Before setting the stricken plane onto the runway.

            The low rumble of the engine was abruptly stopped and replaced by a loud scraping sound just a moment later. The plane jolted as it hit the ground. The plane started spinning slowly clockwise, the large wing threatening to create lift and flip the airplane. Umbreon held the elevators down, causing the plane to stay mostly rooted to the ground.

            Sparks from the airplane got into a hole in the wing and into a damaged fuel tank. Umbreon watched at the plane continued to slowly spin as fire erupted from the broken wing. The plane was slowing down rapidly now. “Prepare to get away from this, and fast!” Umbreon ordered to them.

            As the plane was almost stopped, time seemed to slow down, he spotted an Eevee just outside of a door into the base. Their eyes met, he recognized this Eevee instantly, but it didn’t recognize him. Time sped up again and the plane skid to a fast halt. “Bail, bail bail!” Umbreon shouted.

            They got out of the burning airplane as fast as they could. They stood by the plane, looking around. “Well, now that our plane is destroyed and we are in the middle of a war, how will we get home?” Pidgeotto asked.

            “I don’t know,” Umbreon responded, “It’ll take more mischief to get back. We could get infamous around here too,” he joked.

            “Well now what?” Glaceon asked.

            “I need to talk to that Eevee,” Umbreon said, “I know this place and the people here.”

            Umbreon walked off towards the Eevee. Before he could get to him, a high ranking air force official stepped in front of him.

            “What do you think you are doing just walking up to Eevee here?” He said in a British accent, “What the hell are you, anyways?”

            Umbreon was about to surprise the man. “I need to talk to him,” He said.

            The man was surprised that the Pokémon just spoke to him in English, but he was still uneasy about letting Umbreon approach the treasured Eevee.

            “Well you won’t be able to do that until we know more about you and your friends over there.”

            “Okay,” Umbreon responded, unintimidated by the harsh man, “If there is a meeting room in there, we could have one soon with other people, and the radio man who brought me to this base. I have a lot to tell you guys about, and you might not even believe me.”

            Umbreon walked back to his friends and gathered them. “We are going to talk to some humans before I can talk to Eevee,” He said.

            “Okay,” Glaceon responded, “But how does it help our situation?”

            “That Eevee is me in the past, and if I don’t persuade it to go home, all of our history would be different. I don’t feel like having my past self to die in this war. I don’t want my present self to die either. So trust me on this, it is going to be difficult to escape. We just need to gain a bit of infamy.”

 

Chapter 22

Believe Me

 

            Three days after they crash landed, Umbreon was sitting at the head of a table with several high-ranking officials and the radioman who led them here.

            “Alright, let’s get this started,” one man said. The men were silent, but Umbreon knew they had questions.

            “It’s okay to talk to me you know, ask all the questions you want,” Umbreon said.

            One man spoke up, “What are you?”

            “I am a Pokémon called an Umbreon. I come from a place where they don’t even know what I am. Over here is Glaceon, another undiscovered one, and you all know Pidgeotto.”

            “How do you speak to us without actually speaking?” Another man said.

            “I am a psychic Pokémon, so I am transferring messages straight into the part of your brain where you process sound, so it thinks it can hear what I am sending to you.”

            “Why are you here?” Yet another man said.

            “I’m stuck here. While I am here, I have to talk to that Eevee that is so important to you guys.”

            The same man opened his mouth to ask another question, but another person cut in with the inevitable question, “Where are you from?”

            “This is where it gets complicated… I am not from around here. I am originally from the desert Eevee is from, but the desert is known as the timeless desert. If you get lost, time slips by. I got lost this year, in 1942, but exited the desert in 2026. Yes, I somehow traveled back in time to get here. I had flown the German aircraft into a storm after escaping from the military way over in America. I appeared here somehow.”

            “Why do you want to talk to Eevee?” the man who was cut off before spoke up.

            “I am Eevee, but from the future. I evolved into this form during the trip through the desert. I somehow made it back here, and it had to be for something.”

            “Who will win the war?” Someone asked.

            “The Allies will.”

            “How?” the man asked again.

            “We will take over Berlin and bomb two cities in Japan with one superweapon each.”

            “What are the superweapons?” Someone asked.

            “It is classified information.”

            The commander of the airfield spoke up, “How come I’m not allowed to know something that you already know?”

            “Because I am from the future, where when the bombs dropped, on August 6th and 9th, it wasn’t a secret anymore.”

            There was a slight moment of silence.

            “Okay, does anyone have any more questions?”

            Everyone shook their heads no.

            They split up and went back to their own stations. Umbreon had to talk to Eevee, wherever he was. Umbreon went outside to look for Eevee. He looked around for a second and found him under a windowsill watching the planes move around the airfield. Umbreon took a second to gather himself, then moved to approach Eevee.

            “Hey Eevee. Can you trust me?” He said, when he sat down next to him.

            “I don’t know, “Eevee responded, “I don’t know who you are.”

            “I know who you are though,” Umbreon said.

            “How?”

            “Well, this may seem awkward, but… I’m you, just older.”

            “No you aren’t.”

            “I swear it’s true.”

            “That’s impossible!”

            “How can I prove it to you?”

            “Well… You can say what my past was like. I mean, you only arrived a few days ago, so how could you possibly do it?”

            “Well… Here I go. I’ll make it brief. I know how painful it is to look back on those times. You lived in a cave with a small spring in a desert called the timeless desert. It was called that because if anyone got lost, time would slip away from them. In a time of little food, your father went insane and killed your mother, before threatening you. All that after your siblings died. He said ‘I’ll just leave you here to die alone,’ before leaving and disappearing.

            You buried your mother and headed to the military base that was nearby. You had been there many times before. You wanted to see what flying was like, so you went on what you thought was a training flight, but it actually was leaving to go to this wretched war. You didn’t want to leave your home, but—”

            “That’s enough,” Eevee sobbed, “I believe you now!”

            Umbreon felt his eyes water from the memories and the sad Eevee. He got up and sat right next to him, putting a paw around Eevee. Eevee turned his head into Umbreon’s fur, his tears making a wet spot in it. Umbreon sat there for a little while as Eevee calmed down.

            “What have you come here to tell me in the first place?” Eevee asked.

            “There is a plane leaving early tomorrow for the desert; some troops are being transferred. I need you to get on that flight all the way back to the desert.”

            “Why do I have to leave?”

            “I need you, me, to go. I know you will go because I am standing here talking to you, and if you hadn’t left, I wouldn’t be standing here. I… err, you… It’s the same thing. Would’ve died long before 2026. So just go.”

            “Okay, I’ll go, but how will I know how to make the right decisions? It is a big problem if I don’t.”

            “Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t be here if you don’t just follow your instinct on where to go. If it’s the wrong way, do what you think is right.” I have complete faith in what you will do. Remember, I’m you, but older. Think of me as your big brother, and you are just following everything I do. You _will_ make the right decisions, and meet some nice friends along the way too.”

            “Thanks.”

            They sat there until the sun went down about an hour later. Two figures, looking very different, but the exact same. “I’ll wake you up tomorrow morning. I know how much you like to sleep,” Umbreon said.

            “Thanks again,” Eevee said, “But how will you get home?”

            “I’m not sure yet,” Umbreon responded, being brutally honest.

            “Will you be safe?”

            Umbreon hesitated. “Of course,” He answered after a few seconds, “Of course I will.”

 

———

 

            Umbreon woke up early the next morning. He stretched and walked into the building where Eevee slept. He crept over to Eevee, being careful not to wake the airmen. “Eevee,” Umbreon said, “It’s time to wake up.”

            Eevee’s eyes opened and he stood up. “‘Morning,” He said.

            “Follow me,” Umbreon said.

            Umbreon led Eevee to the plane which was being loaded with airmen. “This is it,” Umbreon said, “It is time for you to go.”

            “I’ll miss you.”

            “There’s no need to. All you need to do is look at your paws. Remember, I’m you.”

            “I keep forgetting. It is complicated.”

            “Don’t worry about it. I don’t even fully understand either.”

            “So will you always be looking out for me. Because you’re me.”

            “That’s right.”

            “That’s strange.”

            An engine started on the large B-17.

            “This is where you go,” Umbreon said. “Remember that we are one.”

            Eevee and Umbreon touched noses before Eevee turned and climbed the ladder into the plane.

            “Stay hidden until you are far away!” Umbreon shouted after him, knowing that Eevee heard it.

 

Chapter 23

C-47

 

            Umbreon, after much negotiating, managed to secure a way to get another plane. Umbreon, Glaceon, and Pidgeotto would jump out of a C-47 transport plane at night. They would land at a He-219 factory and modify one of the planes so Umbreon could fly it safely. Then, they would get out of there and fly back to the base.

            The day before they would leave, Umbreon made make-shift parachutes out of spare parachute silk and nylon cord. They made a harness with a quick release and a small bad to hold the parachute in place. The band would be removed by a string held in their mouths. Umbreon made one for himself and Glaceon, Pidgeotto would fly down.

            They stood in front of the C-47, also known as a DC-3. It was a large, twin engine plane. It was wide so that it could carry many different types of cargo. They stood in the cargo area as the large side door closed. “Are you guys ready?” Umbreon asked.

            “Yes,” Glaceon said.

            “As ready as I can be,” Pidgeotto said.

            The plane rolled forwards as it took off from the base into the late-day light. It would be five hours before they reached the bailout point.

            “I wanted to tell you this after we took off so you wouldn’t have second thoughts on getting on with me,” Umbreon said, “Not even one soldier, Allied or Axis, would ever think about pulling this stunt.”

            “If they wouldn’t, why are you dragging us along?!” Pidgeotto yelled.

            “Because who would suspect three Pokémon would hijack a plane,” Umbreon said, “Remember what I said about getting a bad reputation here?”

            “Oh. Yea,” Glaceon responded not very confidently.

 

———

 

            Five hours later, they were waiting by the door for the red light to turn green. “Pidgeotto,” Umbreon said, “Remember to circle the base until you see us in. Then come down to us.”

            “Got it,” Pidgeotto said

            “Glaceon,” Umbreon said, “Remember to release your parachute near the ground. There’s nothing the Germans like shooting better than parachutes.”

            The red light turned to green and they jumped out the plane into the darkness at an altitude of 15,000 feet. Pidgeotto dove away from Umbreon and Glaceon. Umbreon started to fall faster than Glaceon. He continued to fall through the darkness. The wind dislodged his parachute at about 2,000 feet. It opened, jerking Umbreon into a slow descent.

            He heard something fall past him. “HELP!” Glaceon screamed. It took a second to realize that Glaceon’s parachute wasn’t working. He pressed the quick release and let the parachute float away. He streamlined his body to get to Glaceon. The ground was approaching fast. Umbreon landed squarely on Glaceon’s shoulders, causing him to panic more. “Calm down!” He yelled. He started to manually unhook the band to let the parachute open above them, but Glaceon started to panic more, making it harder. Umbreon got the parachute to open. The sudden deceleration almost dislodged Umbreon. He looked down to see what Glaceon was panicking about. They were no more than 50 feet above the ground.

            Umbreon jumped off of Glaceon’s back just before they hit the ground. “No more parachute making for you!” Glaceon shrieked, more out of fear than anger.

            “Don’t worry. After this, you won’t need one,” Umbreon responded, “Now let’s head in.”

            Umbreon made himself a shadow to blend Glaceon and himself in with the darkness. They made their way into the unlit base. Pidgeotto couldn’t find them anywhere. He saw them land, but he never saw them enter the base. Umbreon saw Pidgeotto circling above and uncloaked them. Pidgeotto spotted them and landed by them.

            “I realized that I need a fire type Pokémon to fuse the parts into the plane,” Umbreon said.

            “Oh Xerneas, Umbreon,” Pidgeotto scowled, “You couldn’t think of this _before_ we got here.”

            “I need you, Glaceon, to try and change into a Flareon,” Umbreon said desperately, “Try to become Flareon. Act like, talk like it, even recite the attacks and abilities. Do anything”

            “Okay,” Glaceon said, “I’ll try.”

            “I’ll go look for everything we need to modify it,” Umbreon said, “Pidgeotto, keep watch.”

            Pidgeotto flew into the sky as Glaceon tried his hardest to change forms. Umbreon snuck into a large building, where there would surely be parts.

 

Chapter 24

Confidence

 

            Umbreon returned with most of the parts they needed to modify the plane. He returned to Glaceon, who was still trying to change forms. Umbreon set all the parts down, trying not to make a noise. “It’s okay that you can’t change whenever you want to,” Umbreon said.

            “No it isn’t,” Glaceon responded, “We need fire to get out of here, so I will keep trying.”

            Umbreon thought for a second. “You don’t think it will work, do you?” Umbreon said.

            “Not really.”

            “Well then, act like it will! Have some confidence in it.”

            “Okay then.” Glaceon went back to trying.

            Umbreon started to put the parts in the plane, fastening them with only a little bit of tape, it only held them in place. Umbreon looked back down at Glaceon, but something was different.

            “Hey Umbreon! I think it worked!” Flareon yelled.

            “That’s what happens when you have confidence in yourself!” Umbreon yelled back as he jumped down from the plane.

            Umbreon heard an unfamiliar voice, “Wer ist da? Übergeben sie sofort!”

            He pushed Flareon behind a wooden barrier, but left himself completely exposed. He saw a weak beam of light from a flashlight. He looked up to see a tall man dressed in black looking back at him. There was an MP-40 machine pistol hooked to his belt Umbreon realized the bullets around his neck were American and might be recognized by the guard. He spoke again, “Es ist nur ein dummer hund.” He turned and walked away.

            Flareon emerged from behind the barrier; scared silent.

            “Let’s start modifying the plane,” Umbreon said.

            After hours of cutting, fusing, clipping and modifying, they were done. The inside of the plane looked even better than the last one. It came at the cost of time. By the time they were done, light was starting to appear on the horizon.

            “We need to get going before they realize we’re actually trying to steal something,” Umbreon said.

            They piled into the plane. Umbreon reached down to start the plane, but realized something was different. The RPM indicator only went up to 2,500 RPM instead of the higher scale that the crashed one did. He also noticed that the engine housings were bigger than the ones on the other planes. They had chosen the prototype of the He-219-55; one of the planes the Germans would’ve relied on to win the war in the skies.

            It looked exactly the same as their old plane, but had larger engines and larger fuel tanks. The plane was painted stealth-black. The engines were two captured, Allied Lycoming XR-7755-3 radial engines. They each had 36 cylinders, and a displacement of 127 liters. The plane had redesigned propeller blades that propelled the plane through the air 50% more efficiently than traditional blades. The best part of all, the engines produced 5,500 horsepower each. The plane had a total of 11,000 horsepower and could fly at over 550 miles an hour, though a top speed wasn't known yet.

            The plane had larger propeller blades to give the plane more grip to the sky. The landing gear had been extended to accommodate the larger blades. The engine housings were also slightly longer too. The wings had been heavily reinforced to be stable up to almost 700 miles an hour.

            The blueprints for the engine were destroyed in a bombing raid. The Germans had no way of remaking the engines. They were helping the war effort while benefiting themselves.

            Umbreon started the engines a lot differently than the old plane. All he did was push and hold down a button and the engines rumbled to life. Idling at just 300RPM. The engines made a deep, menacing rumble.

            “The engines don’t sound right,” Glaceon said, “Are you sure that it is okay to fly this?”

            “That sound, is the sweet, sweet sound of power,” Umbreon replied.

            Umbreon quickly took the plane to the runway and throttled up the engines to 100%. The plane quickly accelerated and sped down the runway. Of course, the Germans noticed this sly maneuver and quickly readied a small squadron of FW-190s. Umbreon saw behind him that they were on to him, but the pane quickly gained speed and went much faster than the other planes.

            Umbreon took the plane to a cruise altitude of 12,000 feet and kept it at 90% throttle. The plane maintained a cruise speed of 540 miles an hour. “This is what true speed is like,” Umbreon said, “We can use speed to get away from anything now.”

            Umbreon radioed the base, “UFP207 flying home at 540 miles an hour. As you can tell, the mission was successful.”

            “UFP207, we copy. We expect you back at the base in a few hours.”

            “I have confidence we just pulled off something amazing,” Flareon said.

            “Oh yes,” Pidgeotto responded.

            Umbreon was too lost in thought of somehow getting home to tune in on the conversation. He was thinking of how to get home. _We need another storm._ He thought.

 

Chapter 25

Storm

 

            A few hours later, they were approaching the RAAF base. Umbreon lined up to the runway and began to slow down some more. He put the throttle to 15% and maintained a speed of 110mph with landing flaps extended. He descended down to the runway and touched down softly. The heavy plane took up more runway to stop than he thought.

            The sky was cloudy and the wind was beginning to pick up. He could feel rain in the air as he approached the half-burnt shell of the old airplane. He climbed into the cockpit and picked up the empty 50-caliber ammunition box. He brought it back to the plane, where Pidgeotto took it up to the cockpit and placed it in its new spot.

            The Umbreon turned to go inside, but saw the radioman running towards them. “Is there anything wrong?” Umbreon asked.

            “There is a huge storm approaching and I need you to get inside,” He said frantically.

            “How bad it it?” Umbreon asked.

            “Bad enough to be seen on radar that we use to detect aircraft. It had never happened before.”

            Umbreon started to walk towards the buildings at the side of the airfield. Then he remembered that they had to get out of here.

            “Come on guys,” Umbreon said, “We have to fly.”

            Umbreon turned to the radioman and spoke English, “We have to get out of here. We came here in a storm so we probably need to exit in one.”

            “You can’t!” The radioman said, “The storm is too severe. The turbulence will bring the plane down.”

            “Well it’s go home, or stay here. I have a feeling that my friends want to go home with me.”

            Umbreon looked towards his friends, who nodded.

            “We have to go,” Umbreon said, “Me must take the risk.”

            They got back into the airplane as the radioman ran back to shelter. Umbreon turned the engines on and turned the plane around. It was starting to sprinkle; this was a tiny amount of rain compared to what they will be going through. Umbreon throttled up the engines and the plane sped down the runway with a deep roar.

            The plane quickly accelerated as the rain began to get harder and the turbulence was getting more severe. Umbreon put the throttle to 90% as the rain picked up and the base faded out of sight. He kept the plane at 12,500 feet and flew into the dark clouds. It was almost as black as night.

            The rain poured down, making the windshield impossible to see out of. The turbulence pulled at the wings of the plane, threatening to tear them apart. The turbulence continued as the clouds began to get lighter. “I think we missed the light, if there is one,” Flareon said.

            “No, we haven’t,” Umbreon responded

            The clouds continued to get lighter as they approached the center of the storm. Umbreon was so shaken up that he could barely see. He was worried that the turbulence might actually bring the plane down. They punched through the white cloud wall and into the view of a blinding light. “Here we go again!” Pidgeotto said as they plowed into the light. The light disappeared.

           

———

 

            Umbreon regained his vision. He was somewhere. He didn’t know where. He looked back at his friends, they were both looking around. “Do you know where we are?” Flareon asked.

            “Not a clue.” Umbreon said.

            Umbreon descended through the clouds. They went under them and found themselves to be over a residential area. “I don’t know if I should use the radio. I don’t want any more jets to follow us,” Umbreon said.

            “Well, we do need to find out where we are, and hopefully get information on when we are,” Pidgeotto said, “We could be in some other year.”

            Umbreon prepared to speak into the radio when he was beat to it. “This is Aurnian Airport, please identify yourselves.”

            Umbreon spoke into the radio, “This is UFP207, we are disoriented and lost and we need to land.”

            “Ah, you’re the infamous trio of Pokémon who disappeared a week ago.”

            “So you know?”

            “Everyone knows; it was a major headline in the news.”

            “Could you do us a favor and keep quiet about it. We’re not trying to be mischievous.”

            “Running through a packed airport with explosives around your neck is not trying to be mischievous?”

            “They’re not explosives! They’re just something I wear.”

            “Well, you have permission to land. Taxi to hangar 11, it isn’t being used at the moment.”

            Umbreon turned the plane towards the airport and prepared to land. As he neared the runway, he saw several black cars parked next to a hangar off to the side of the airport. He was suspicious of something. “Flareon and Pidgeotto, watch if any black cars start coming down the taxiway towards us when we land.

            Umbreon got close to the runway, hovered over it for a second, then set the plane down onto the tarmac. Umbreon reduced the throttle to 0% before starting to slow down. “They’re following us!” Flareon and Pidgeotto shouted.

            “Aborting,” Umbreon replied. The man in the tower hadn’t kept the secret of landing.

            Umbreon slammed the throttle back to full and the engine’s pitch sharply changed. He gained speed to take off again. More black cars appeared from another hangar which was much closer. The plane lifted sharply into the air as Umbreon retracted the gear and flaps. It would be much harder to land than before they were infamous. He had to find a different place to land.

            Umbreon headed towards an abandoned airfield by the edge of the city he’d seen before. There were railroad tracks near it. That’s how they could get into the city. “From now on guys,” Umbreon said as he landed on the bumpy concrete runway at the abandoned airfield, “We need to have more stealth.”

            “It’s going to be difficult if we have to keep earning badges at gyms in cities,” Flareon responded.

 

Chapter 26

Defiance

 

            Umbreon parked the plane in a small hangar and struggled to close the large doors. They eventually got it to close and left the airfield. They wandered around the empty neighborhood until they get to the railroad tracks, where they walked towards the city. They found a concrete platform next to the tracks and waited there. There was no one around.

            They heard a rumble in the distance and hid behind a bench. A large silver train with long windows stopped next to the platform and some doors opened. They waited for a second before they ran into the car in the vary back. They hid there for a while. The train made many more stops before the light faded outside of the car. They had no idea where they were going. One of the good things about the train is that the station name announced every stop. All they had to do was wait for a stop which was hopefully the gym, or near it.

            The train made several more stops, picking up a few people, who went to the cars in the foreword part of the train. “Hey guys,” Flareon said, “Come look at this.”

            They went over to him, he was looking at something; a newspaper. Umbreon saw the date, dated August 22nd, 2027, which was a week ago. The headline read “Mysterious Plane Disappearance in Storm.” Umbreon read a little bit of the article.

            “A He-219 piloted with an infamous trio of Pokémon vanished from radars over a forest in Tennessee. The plane was being pursued by two F-16 after disobeying orders. The F-16s fired missiles at the plane, which they thought had hit it. The storm was too severe to go after them. They confirmed that they had missed as the plane was still on the radar. A few seconds later, it was gone. No wreckage was found in the forest below.”

            “Well that’s interesting,” Umbreon said, “We really did make the headlines.”

            “Aurnian Gym,” the driver announced.

            “That’s our stop,” Umbreon said, “Let’s go.”

            They walked off of the train and followed the stairs out of the underground station. They stopped at the top and looked around. There was barely anyone around. Umbreon signaled to his friends to follow him as they ran towards a red-sided arch shaped building with a white roof. It was the Aurnian Gym.

            They hustled inside and looked around. There was no one around. They walked towards the large double doors of the arena entrance. Umbreon sat outside of the door for a second, wondering if it was really a good idea to go in. He got up and pushed the doors open. Flareon and Pidgeotto followed close behind. “I challenge the gym leader to a battle!” Umbreon said psychically.

            “Well, well, well. Who do we have here?” a man with a deep, menacing voice said.

            “It’s more of a what,” Umbreon replied.

            The lights tuned on, but they barely lit the arena, only giving it a slight orangeish glow. Umbreon was standing in front of the battle area. A man dressed in long black clothes was standing at the other end. “It is more of a what,” The man responded, “So what are you?”

            “I am Umbreon,” He responded, “I have come here with Pidgeotto and Flareon to challenge you to a match.”

            “I assume that you are a psychic Pokémon,” The man said, “From what I’ve heard.”

            “Yes, I am.”

            “Well then. You’ve come to the come to the right place. The Aurnian Gym is known for its strong psychic types.”

            “And we’re known for causing chaos.”

            “But this is different,” the man said, “I have only been defeated once. That was long ago, when my Pokémon weren’t as well trained.”

            Umbreon had second thoughts on entering this arena. He didn’t know how powerful his friends could be, and he was questioning his own power.

            “By the way,” The man added, “I accept your challenge. This is no time for second thoughts. We will have a one on one battle with no time limit. At stake; an Aura badge.”

            Umbreon was stuck here. There was no way to back out now. “Hey Umbreon?” Pidgeotto asked, “Can I battle in this?”

            “No,” Umbreon said firmly, “To be honest, this guy is a true professional. If he has psychic types, the only way we can have a chance to defeat him is to have another psychic type battle, so I have to.”

            Umbreon took the bullets off of his neck and placed them onto the ground.

            “Okay,” Pidgeotto said, disappointed.

            He knew Umbreon was incorrect about his type. Maybe this battle would show that he truly was a dark type.

            “Maybe next time,” Umbreon said as he stepped into the lines. He would have to use his most powerful attacks quick in the game, or else the battle could be short.

            “Alakazam go!” The man said.

            Umbreon stopped, dead in his tracks. This possibly was the most powerful Pokémon that he could face. Alakazam. It had an IQ of over 5,000, and it could use its entire brain in psychic attacks. There was almost no way Umbreon could win, but he had to. He didn’t want the strong face to scare him, but still, he was petrified.

            “Let the battle begin!” The referee said.

            Umbreon started off with a quick attack, but Alakazam’s powerful psychic attack sent him flying back. Pidgeotto was confused. The attack did have an effect on him. Umbreon landed back on his paws. This Alakazam relied purely off of commands transferred telekinetically by its trainer. Umbreon had no way of knowing what they were going to do. He tried agility, which also failed miserably. He landed on his side, but quickly got up again.

            Umbreon charged up a hyper beam, this would surely him. Umbreon fired it at Alakazam, who deflected it up and around, back to Umbreon. He tried to dodge, but it was redirected to hit him. Umbreon had just hit himself. The energy released from the hyper beam hit Umbreon with all of its might. Umbreon went flying and slammed against the wall with his back. He fell to the floor, but got up again. He was weak, but he still had the will to fight. He wondered how he could win if he hadn’t even hit the Alakazam yet.

            Alakazam picked Umbreon up with its psychic attack and brought him back into the arena. “There is no way you can win this. You should just give up before I really defeat you.” There were a few seconds of stubborn silence before Alakazam slammed him into the ground. He slipped into a vision just after he hit the ground.

            _“‘Now I can finish you off once and for all,’ Espeon said smoothly, a hint of evil in his voice. ‘And after you are dead, I will kill your friends too.’_

_‘No you won’t,’ Umbreon spat back._

_‘It’s useless. I am a psychic type while you are just a dark type. You have no power over me.’_

_‘That’s what you think. If you want to kill us, you will have to go through me.’_

_‘You don’t know when to give up.’”_

            The last line hit him like a train; he was furious. He should’ve tried some of his psychic attacks. He knew he had to use them along with his other attacks to defeat Alakazam. He opened his eyes to see the referee starting to raise his flag. No more than a second had gone by. Alakazam thought he had won.

            Umbreon shot up and stood defiantly in front of Alakazam and the gym leader. The expression on the gym leader’s face changed from triumph to surprise.

            “You didn’t get it,” Umbreon said psychically in a voice that wasn’t his, fire burning in his eyes, “I will _NEVER_ give up. You have just brought all of my fury down on one little, _weak_ , Alakazam,” Umbreon sharply emphasized the word weak.

            Without wasting a second, he shot forewords in the fastest quick attack he had ever done. He felt that Alakazam was initiating a psychic attack and used his own to pierce through it. He slammed into Alakazam, sending him tumbling out of the battle area. He recovered, with some struggle, and returned to his spot at the opposite end of where Umbreon had gone back to his ready position. His friends stood with their mouths open in shock. Umbreon initiated a psychic attack to keep Alakazam busy while he looped around the side with agility and hit Alakazam.

            Alakazam managed to send Umbreon flying back with a psychic attack, but only after he had been hit. Umbreon flipped around in mid-air and landed on his paws. His paws skid on the arena floor as he stopped himself. He stayed firmly planted in the ground as he readied his newest-found attack. It looked like he was charging up a hyper beam, but it was black instead of white.

            He aimed at Alakazam and a ball of pure darkness was launched at it. There was no psychic attack that could stop this attack of revenge and fury. The ball hit Alakazam dead-on and exploded into a black cloud of smoky darkness. As the smoke cleared, it was apparent that Alakazam was unable to battle. The referee rose the flag on Umbreon’s side, signaling that he had won.

            His friends came out to congratulate him, but they stopped before they got to him. He was shaking, still focused on Alakazam. Flareon moved to approach Umbreon when he suddenly collapsed in front of him. Umbreon laid on the ground, exhausted from the battle.

            “Are you… okay?” Flareon asked as Pidgeotto approached.

            “I’m fine,” Umbreon panted, “just…exhausted.”

            “That’s good,” Pidgeotto said.

            Flareon helped Umbreon get to his feet and walked over to the gym leader. Umbreon looked half asleep after the impossible match. “Congratulations,” He said, “I surely thought that you would lose.”

            “Thanks,” Umbreon said as he was given the Aura badge. It was the top four sides of hexagon, colored purple. The bottom two sides were silver-grey.

            “I have one question for you,” The man said again, “How did you suddenly get all of that power, and those strong attacks. I just don’t really know how you did it.”

            “Well,” Umbreon began, “It was when you told me to give up. I took me back to my screwed up past. That brought rage and fury which is when I just completely lost control of myself. Sorry, but it is just a personal thing.”

            “So, there’s no real secret. It’s just a you thing.”

            “Yep. Just a me thing.”

            The man nodded his head as they turned to leave. They left the gym and went to find a quiet place to sleep in the darkening city. They now had two out of eight badges.

 

Chapter 27

Leaked

 

            The next day, just after midday, they were back on the train to get back to their plane. There was one man sitting in on the opposite end of the rear train car, reading a newspaper. When they were still far from their stop when the man exited the train, leaving the newspaper lying on the seat.

            Umbreon ran over to it once the train was back in motion, he wanted to see if they were being tracked again. He flipped the paper over, exposing a front-page headline. He called Flareon and Pidgeotto over to read it too. The headline that day revealed something disturbing. “Lost Pokémon Return; Defeat Aurnian Gym Leader.” The media was right behind their every move.

            “How the hell are they that fast?” Pidgeotto questioned as Umbreon read deeper.

            “The trio of Pokémon who disappeared last week reappeared yesterday over the outskirts of Aurnian city. They said they were ‘disoriented and lost and need[ed] to land.’ A trap was set at the Aurnian airport but filed to catch the Pokémon, who were later reported to be at an abandoned airfield in Southport. Investigators arrived at the scene early this morning to discover something interesting. The plane they arrived on wasn’t the one they disappeared in, it was a plane that was lost by the Germans over 80 years ago at the height of World War Two.

            The plane is the Heinkel He-219-55, which was modified with captured American engines in the War, only to disappear. The cockpit of the plane had been heavily modified to fit the trio of Pokémon. It is not-flyable by people. A truck was ordered on short notice to tow the plane away.

            Even more surprising is that they defeated the legendary Aurnian Gym leader in a one on one match. The battle was ‘explosive,’ as the gym leader said later on. ‘It was the most dramatic change of power in a battle that I have ever seen.’ The Pokémon has been identified as an Umbreon. No other information is known on this Pokémon other than it is a dark and possibly secondary psychic type. The Jolteon that was first seen traveling with them was replaced by an unknown Pokémon at the Vermillion Gym, which was replaced by a Flareon at the Aurnian Gym, suggesting that one of Umbreon’s teammates can change forms. The danger from this Pokémon and the two others it travels with is unknown. If you see these Pokémon, stay clear of them.”

            They all looked at each other in surprise that the little information they accidentally leaked had become so much. They had to leave, and fast. As the train stopped where they needed to get off, they ran, and flew, out of the train, startling the few people who were getting on. They ran towards the airfield.

            When they got to it, they approached from behind the hangar where the plane was parked. Umbreon, Flareon and Pidgeotto peered from a hole at the back of old hangar. They saw a large truck with the words “Oversize Load” on the trailer of it. The trailer was closer to them and they saw the driver talking with another person. Umbreon assumed that they were talking about how they would get the plane where it needed to go.

            Umbreon was about to approach the plane when Pidgeotto pointed at something. Umbreon looked to see a news truck with a large antenna and a camera filming a person, who was speaking. They were doing a report on the plane and what was happening. Umbreon got up and approached the plane. He signaled for Flareon and Pidgeotto to follow him. “Smile for the camera,” He said, “They’re going to get this in the news.”

            Umbreon led them towards the plane, where they silently jumped onto the wing and approached the cockpit. Umbreon opened the cockpit, but it hit against the bullets on his neck. He watched as the news reported turned around. “Get in fast!” Umbreon yelled as he jumped in. He locked the cockpit closed once Flareon and Pidgeotto were in. He pressed the ignition switch and the engines started to turn on with a noise that alerted everyone working to remove the plane, or to film it.

            Screeeeeeeeeeeeee! Tik tik tik tik tik tik tik. The engines rumbled to life. The un-muffled exhaust making a deep, threatening growl. Umbreon released the brake and the plane started to move forwards. Umbreon carefully moved between the truck and the news van. Being careful not to hit anything. The news crew filmed from behind the van as the plane taxied past them and to the old runway. Where the engines revved up and the found plane became lost once again in the blue sky; the sound of the engines fading into the distance.

            The people watching the news saw something very different from Umbreon’s point of view. They were just watching the news when in the blurry background, they saw three objects move and jump into the plane. The reporter was cut off mid-sentence by a sound, “The plane will be towed away by truck. Which is going to take it to— _chink!_ ”

            The reporter turned around to see three Pokémon climbing into the plane. The cockpit latched shut as the camera zoomed in on the plane. There was the Umbreon in the front of the plane, busy with something, and a Flareon and Pidgeotto behind it. The propellers started to move slowly. “It appears that the plane is being taken!” the reporter said. The noise of the engines starting filling the air. Screeeeeeeeeeeeee! Tik tik tik tik tik tik tik.

            The sound changed to a growl as the engines started. The plane rolled past them and made for the runway. It took off and faded into the day.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 28

Atlantic

 

            It had been two months since their narrow escape from Aurnian City. They had managed to pull off three more gym victories before their progress was being tracked too closely, and they couldn’t stay still for more than a few dozen minutes before somebody noticed. It had been confirmed that Eevee changed forms, as he changed in the middle of a gym battle, almost getting himself defeated by the change. He was now a Leafeon. Umbreon had been nicknamed Fury by the general public because of the way he fought in the battles and his overall personality.

            They flew through the dark night towards New York. Umbreon had made a simple device from spare radar parts on the plane to stop him from being tracked by radar. The device he made counteracted the radar. The radar operates by a radio wave going up and reflecting off of the plane. He had made a device that sent out radio waves at the same frequency, but the peaks of the waves being sent out were in the valleys of the radio waves being reflected off of the plane. They were going to use this to pull of the most difficult fuel heist yet.

            Umbreon approached the JFK airport, undetected. All of the communication and signal lights, the white, green, and red flashing lights were turned off. The landing lights were too. He was using the radar to find a gap big enough to land safely. They were completely silent as they listened to the radio. They were using it to land on a runway which wasn’t being used to take off or land. He finally found his chance.

            He slipped the plane in between an A320 and an A380, both of them were on their approach. He was dangerously close to the other planes, but this is the only way he could land without alerting anyone of their presence. They touched down soon after the A320 and taxied off of the runway as the A380 blasted by just behind them. It was far too close for Umbreon’s liking. They taxied towards a dark part of the airport where a fuel truck was temporarily parked.

            Umbreon parked next to it and turned off the engines. He opened the cockpit and got out. Leafeon and Pidgeotto following close behind. They went up to the truck and grabbed one of the tubes and connected it to the underside of the wing. After locking it in place, they grabbed the other one and did the same thing. Umbreon pulled a lever on the side of the truck, causing a small engine to start which powered the pump. In 15 minutes, they would be out of here.

            15 minutes later, Umbreon signaled for Leafeon to stop the pump. They put the hoses back and get back into the plane. It was completely full of fuel. Umbreon started the engines and moved away from the truck. He taxied down the airfield to the runway. The airport had quieted down in the late hour. He stopped at the other side of the runway as a small regional jet taxied onto the runway to take off. As it turned to line up with the runway, the landing light on the wheel caught something on the other side.

            It was an airplane. It was painted completely stealth-black, but the large propellers shimmered in the light as they spun. The pilot looked into the cockpit to see a black face with two ears with horizontal, light-blue stripes on them. He recognized it immediately. It was Fury, the Umbreon who was considered a danger to pilots. A notice had gone out to all pilots to keep watch for this Pokémon and the plane.

            The pilot stopped, partially blocking the runway as he called the tower to report this. Umbreon heard the brief conversation through the radio.

            Pilot: “AA flight 290, to tower. I have something to report.”

            Tower: “Yes AA flight 290?”

            Pilot: “I have spotted Fury and the aircraft on my end of runway 18.”

            Tower: “Stay in place and block the plane. We’ll have officials to take care of it in a minute.”

            Pilot: “We copy.”

            They heard this through the radio.

            “What should we do?” Pidgeotto asked.

            “We’ll wait, and if the plane doesn’t get out of our way, we’ll pass it,” Umbreon responded.

            Umbreon spotted three pairs of headlights coming down the taxiway towards them. He waited, pretending to be oblivious to this trap. As the vehicles came within 500 feet, Umbreon started to move forward. He taxied onto the runway and slowly went by the small jet. He pushed the throttle to full and the engines wound up. He accelerated down the runway. “Next time you want to catch us,” Umbreon said to the tower, “You’ll have to do better than that.”

            “So where are we going?” Leafeon asked as they climbed through the cold November air.

            “We can’t go to anymore gyms here, so we are making the ten-hour flight to Britain and trying gyms there,” Umbreon responded, “We only need three more.”

            Umbreon climbed to 20,000 feet and switched the engines to economy, which reduced the fuel consumption of the plane by changing the camshaft position. They were cruising over The Atlantic at the speed of 530 miles per hour, almost as fast as a commercial jet. “I hope you’re comfortable,” Umbreon said to his friends, “Because this is going to be a long flight.”

            Seven hours later, and Umbreon was the only one still awake in the plane. Leafeon and Pidgeotto had soon fell asleep. Umbreon heard a ping and saw a dot on his radar, just another plane flying to Britain. Something didn’t seem right about this plane, it had no marking telling him what the plane was. Then he heard a message on the radio.

            “United flight 77 in distress over the Atlantic. All navigational devices are not working and we are lost.”

            Umbreon picked up the radio. “ULP207, we copy. We see a dot on the radar in the general vicinity of us with no informational markings. Could that possibly be you?”

            “United flight 77. That may be us. We are trying to fly to London-Heathrow airport.”

            “We are going there too. We will go over there and guide you there.”

            “Thank you. We are in a Boeing 787.”

            “Roger.”

            Umbreon looked back at Leafeon and Pidgeotto, they were still asleep. He changed his course to approach the lost aircraft. It was 20 minutes before he saw the navigational lights of a large airplane flying at 15,000 feet. As he descended, he could see a long row of lights on the plane. It was the internal lights of the passenger airplane. He called to the aircraft,  
“ULP207 approaching from high nine o’clock.”

“Roger ULP207.”

            Umbreon descended until they were in front and to the left of the large plane. The sound of the jet engines woke Leafeon and Pidgeotto up.

            “Flight 77, follow our right wingtip in the way that you are positioned. We will guide you back to altitude and course,” Umbreon said.

            “We copy.”

            Umbreon slowly tuned the plane and climbed to the proper altitude and heading. Umbreon led the plane two hours into the daylight. He looked back at the plane he was leading it towards London. It was huge. The pilot had gotten a good look at his plane while they were descending. “Hey ULP207, could you possibly be the trio of Pokémon that was causing havoc in America?”

            Umbreon froze, he didn’t know what to say.

            “Just say we are,” Leafeon said, “Just say the truth.”

            “Yes we are,” Umbreon replied, “You’re speaking to Fury.”

            There was silence as they approached the airfield. Umbreon was flying at 150 miles per hour, the speed that the large passenger jet had to land at.

            “We’re on final approach, so put your landing gear out,” Umbreon said as he put his own out.

            “We just did, but we don’t know if they’re extended or not.”

            Umbreon looked at the underside of the plane, “They are all fully extended, but I can’t check if they’re locked in place.

            Umbreon was now flying about 200 feet to the left of the plane, leading it to the twin runways. He had gotten permission to land on the runway next to it, even though it was a risky move. It was cloudy, Umbreon could barely see anything, but the plane was still following his lead.

            Umbreon led the plane out of the light grey clouds and in sight of the brightly lit runway. They were flying low over the city.

            “Follow my lead and land as lightly as possible,” Umbreon said.

            Umbreon had told the tower about the navigationally blind aircraft and the twin landing that had to be done about an hour ago. The word had been leaked out and there were several news teams at the scene, desperate for a story. They had no idea about how much bigger the story would get. Umbreon saw several news vans and a news helicopter as he descended, he had no chance of escaping the cameras.

            “You got to be kidding me!” Leafeon expressed in annoyance, “Here too?”

            “Maybe it’s different here,” Umbreon responded, “This isn’t America.

            He descended to the runway at 150 miles an hour and set the pane down just as the other one touched down too. The entire airport was at a standstill as the planes raced down the runway. A team of heavy-duty firetrucks waited by the end of the runway. Umbreon followed how the other plane slowed down. Making the planes almost looked connected to each other.

            Umbreon turned off of the runway with the larger plane close behind. The larger plane went off to to gate while Umbreon went to an empty spot at the edge of the airport to park. There was a news van approaching, there was no way he could keep his secret from the eyes of Britain. If the news hadn’t already gotten here, which it hadn’t. Umbreon opened the cockpit of the stealth-black, airplane as the vans parked.

            He got out and Leafeon and Pidgeotto followed him. The news crew were too busy setting up and thinking about the story they could get out of this to notice the three Pokémon on the plane. Umbreon sat on the tip of the wing closest to the news crew. One of them looked up at the plane.

            He saw a mysterious Pokémon with black fur that almost blended into the color of the plane. It had icy-blue markings on its body. It was wearing a chain of 50 caliber billets around its neck. One of the things that stood out the most was the black piece of fabric on the front of the chain which had five shining gym badges. Behind that was a mysterious green and tan Pokémon and a Pidgeotto. He pointed it out to the other members.

            They all stopped and looked up at it. Umbreon overheard one of the members say something to another, “What is that and where is the pilot of the plane?”

            Umbreon felt sort of excited to reveal this. They would be heroes instead of three infamous Pokémon.

 

Chapter 29

Roll

 

            Umbreon replied to what he overheard, “I am an Umbreon, nicknamed Fury. I flew this plane with Leafeon and Pidgeotto here.”

            The news crew looked at each other in surprise. “Did he just speak?” One member asked.

            “Yes. Yes, I did,” Umbreon responded, “I am a dark and psychic type.”

            “We have to get his story now,” One of the members said, “This is the trio from America.”

            “Is this true?” Another member asked him.

            “Yes it is,” Umbreon responded, still perched on the wing, “Let’s say we’ve worked up a little bit of a reputation back in America and we had to leave to continue to pursue what our original goal was. Which was entering the Pokémon Indigo League Championships.”

            “Why don’t you come down here and we’ll do an interview of you.”

            “Do you guys want to come too?” Umbreon asked Leafeon and Pidgeotto, not in psychic English like when he was talking to the news team.

            “Sure,” Leafeon said while Pidgeotto nodded in agreement.

            “We’ll do it,” Umbreon said to the news team as he jumped down from the wing of the plane and made his way towards the camera.

           

———

 

            “This is Channel Seven News reporting on the story of the lost plane that was guided to its destination. This is a strange event, as the lost plane had lost all its ways to navigate, which is under investigation here at London-Heathrow Airport right now. We have come here to interview the pilot and found something to be different, but it is a first for all of us. The pilot is a Pokémon from the United States. Is this a first for you?” The reported asked him.

            “Yes. It definitely is,” Umbreon responded psychically, not even opening his mouth.

            “Why did you decide to come here from America?”

            “Well,” Umbreon thought for a moment, “We had worked up a little bit of a bad reputation in America. We flew on edge, not always following all of the rules set by the NTSB and the DoT. It first started with a miscommunication which almost caused us to collide with a large passenger plane, and then the airport building itself.”

            “How did you get the plane you fly now? It was lost for a long time, wasn’t it?

            “Yes it was. Let’s just say, after we disappeared into a storm a few months ago, and we got lost in more ways than one. Then we found this plane, modified it, and flew until we were found over Aurnian city.”

            “That answered another question. So, what are the bullets around your neck for?”

            “That is my own token from WWII that I picked up from a downed bomber in a desert a few months ago. I got it because I actually have a direct connection to the war.”

            “Since your name ends with –eon, does that mean you are an evolution of the Eevee?”

            “Yes actually, along with Leafeon here.”

            “Do you have any connection to Eevee Base about 15 miles east from here?”

            “Wait, what? That still exists? I do have a connection to it.”

            “Do you know the radioman there; he was there when apparently an Umbreon landed in an airplane. He still goes there once in a while. He’s there today because it is his 101st birthday.”

            “I think so,” Umbreon was eager to go.

            “Just a couple more things. What are the badges on the cloth there?”

            “Those are gym badges that trainers need to get into competitions. I wanted to do those competitions, but without a trainer. So, I did.”

            “Interesting, so you are the first Pokémon only team to battle in a gym. Any other firsts?”

            “Well. We are probably the first Pokémon to fly a plane, the first to cross the Atlantic, the first to be wanted by an entire country, and hopefully the first to win the Pokémon Indigo League Championships.”

            “Thank you. This is Dianna Rodgers; Channel Seven News.”

            Umbreon turned to the plane and jumped onto the wing. He turned around to face the news cast, who were now packing up. “Hey guys,” He said, getting their attention, “Thanks for the interview. I don’t feel like staying infamous forever.”

            “No problem,” One of them said.

            “We’re going to head over to Eevee Base and say hi.”

 

Chapter 30

Joe

 

            Leafeon and Pidgeotto got up to the wing and got into the cockpit with Umbreon. Umbreon closed the cockpit and started up the engines. He turned the plane around and headed for the line to takeoff, there were seven planes in it. “ULP207 to tower. We are entering the takeoff line.”

            “Tower to ULP207, we copy, you are eighth in line.”

            They waited for the planes to take off before they got onto the runway.

            “Tower to ULP207. You are clear for takeoff.”

            Umbreon put the throttle to full and the plane accelerated smoothly down the runway. The plane lifted into the clearing sky and changed course for the Eevee base. Umbreon realized it must be still active as an air force base. It might be harder to land than he thought. A glowing came from the back of the cockpit. Umbreon turned and saw Leafeon glowing brightly, he was changing forms again. When the glowing stopped, Umbreon turned again to see Glaceon sitting behind him.

            “That’s perfect,” Umbreon said, “You were a Glaceon when we last went to this base.”

            “Now it’ll be easier to recognize us,” Glaceon said.

            “UGP207 to Eevee Base, requesting permission to land.”

            “Eevee Base to UGP207. No civilian planes are allowed to land here unless there is an emergency. It is an active military base.”

            Umbreon was afraid of that answer.

            “We have something special for the radioman on his 101st birthday. We need to stop by to show him.”

            “Does he know you?”

            “I don’t know if he’ll recognize us, but it’ll be hard to miss us.”

            “I’ll go ask him really quick.”

            Umbreon circled around the base as they waited for a response.

            “He says he will allow a plane called a Heinkel He-219-55 land here. He’s been obsessed about that plane for years. He said Pokémon flew it in WWII when he was still new to the base.”

            “Well then. Today’s his lucky day. We check all of those boxes.”

            “I don’t believe you.”

            “Have you watched the news lately?”

            “No. Why?”

            “I strongly suggest that you turn on your TV and change to Channel 7. They have an interesting story.”

            “Okay, I’ll watch.”

            There was silence for fifteen minutes as they circled around the base. The fuel was starting to run low.

            “Hey Eevee Base, we’re starting to run low on fuel. Can we get an answer soon?”

            “Eevee Base to UGP207. I can’t believe I am saying this, but we grant you permission to land.”’

            Umbreon knew he had watched the news story, and maybe gotten around to something else about him. Umbreon turned the plane towards the runway and prepared to land. He reduced throttle, then deployed flaps and landing gear. He touched down on the redesigned runway and taxied past many military fighters and cargo planes. He stopped once he reached the building that they were instructed to stop by.

            Umbreon opened the cockpit and saw a small crowd of men in military uniform and an old man at the front. He was walking slowly. Umbreon recognized him immediately, he was the radioman who brought them to safety all those years ago, only quite a bit older. Umbreon got out of the cockpit with Glaceon and Pidgeotto just behind him. They recognized him too.

            Umbreon, Glaceon and Pidgeotto jumped down from the plane and moved to approach the old radioman. The men in uniform were shocked that three Pokémon just jumped out of a plane, but the old radioman wasn’t. Umbreon walked over to the radioman and dipped his head in a friendly greeting. “I never thought I would see you again,” The man said.

            “I never thought I would see you again either,” Umbreon responded. “Happy 101st.”

            “Did you know that I was the only man in the base that believed what you said back in ’42 of how you got here?”

            “No, I didn’t.”

            “So now that I know that you really traveled through time in the storm to get here and to go back, when was it when you disappeared and reappeared?”

            “It was just over two months ago when we vanished, and a week later, we reappeared.”

            “You’ve still taken care of the plane?”

            “See for yourself.”

            The man walked over to the plane and looked at it in more detail. “I also believed you because how you said the war would end, and you were exactly right.”

            “Back then, I never caught your name? What is it?”

            “My name’s Joe. I was called Crazy Joe because how much I believed in your story. Why don’t you come with us and look in our war picture room?”

            “Sure. I’m sure Glaceon and Pidgeotto would also like to.”

            Umbreon followed Joe as he walked through the base and to the room with all the pictures from the war. There were pictured of planes and men, but there was a whole wall dedicated to Eevee and Umbreon.

            “I also believed you when you said that you were a grown-up Eevee. That you had just gotten lost in a strange desert. You two seemed so close.”

            “I like how you trusted in me. I knew at least one person would.”

            “I had to negotiate for a long time to get this wall for you, but in the end, paid off.”

            Umbreon looked through the old black and white pictures of Eevee, Umbreon and the objects they influenced. There was a picture of the B-17 he had crash-landed on the airfield. A picture of him sitting next to his younger self, that was when he was convincing himself to leave. He saw a picture of the old, damaged H-219 about to land, next to a photo of the He-219-55 landing just a few days later. He saw a picture of Eevee boarding the B-17 to go back to America with Umbreon saying goodbye.

            Umbreon saw a row of pictures that recorded the crash-landing of the old He-219 in a series of thirteen photos. Starting with just above the ground, and ending at Umbreon, Glaceon and Pidgeotto evacuating from the smoking wreckage. There were 19 pictures of Eevee “sneaking” aboard a B-17 on the mission he went on, and there was one of Eevee boarding the “Lucky Eevee” B-29. There was also a picture of Eevee, half covered in partially dry blood after the crash landing. Standing behind him were the seven surviving crew members.

            It was very emotional looking at these photos, there was over 80 years of history that him and his friends had experienced. He wasn’t sure about what to think about the wall, it made him miss Eevee. Then, he remembered something. _“I’ll miss you,” Eevee said._

_“There’s no need to. All you need to do is look at your paws. Remember, I’m you,” Umbreon replied._

            Umbreon looked down at his paws. “I’m you,” He repeated softly. Eevee was always with him, and he was always with Eevee. They were the same.

            Umbreon looked at the wooden door. It looked familiar, it was the front door to the base during the war. “What’s behind the old front door,” Umbreon asked.

            “I was about to show it to you,” Joe replied, “It took even more negotiating to get this in here.”

            Joe opened the door. Umbreon started walking in until he saw what was in the large room. It was the He-219 they had crashed in when they first arrived. It was in the same condition as Umbreon remembered it. The wing was missing and the propellers were bent and scratched. The plane was half burnt and the cockpit glass was still just jagged pieces sticking out of the frame.

            Umbreon moved into the room and towards the old plane. Glaceon and Pidgeotto followed him. Umbreon walked under the string that separated the area the plane was in from the other parts of the room. He stepped onto the wing and walked towards the cockpit. There was a note made on a crumpled piece of paper inside.

           

            _Umbreon, Glaceon, and Pidgeotto. The three mysterious Pokémon who dropped in on us from out of nowhere. To the people who didn’t believe, pity on them. They were real, and they will return to find this note, eventually…_

_1946_

 

            Umbreon looked at the note over and over. “Did you write this?” He asked.

            “Yes, I did” Joe responded.

            “Thank you for preserving what I have done for this place, even if it didn’t necessarily help.”

            “No problem. This is actually a small museum. If you come back in a few weeks, there’s going to be more photos on the wall.”

            “I’ll be sure to stop by later on.”

            “I’ll be in the area until you return.”

            “Thanks again,” Umbreon said as he jumped off of the wing, “I guess we’d better get going.”

            Umbreon, Glaceon and Pidgeotto left to get back to their plane. When they returned to their plane, Umbreon found it to be full of fuel. He turned around and saw Joe standing behind him. “I had the fuel on your plane topped up. I know how hard it is to get it,” He said, “I also have the honor to give you this.”

            He pulled out a faded, blue felt-covered box and opened it.

            “The president of the United States of America heard about what you did for us, flying in those missions, and capturing a German aircraft without support. He wanted me to give it to you if I ever saw you again. He publicly announced it, and everyone thought he was crazy, except me.”

            He opened the box.

            “This is the Medal of Honor of the United States Air Force. It is awarded for personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty. He thought you deserved this in every way.”

            There were 13 stars on the blue part where the medal was attached to the pin to attach it to a uniform. The word ‘valor’ was just under the stars, it’s gold letters shining. There was a pair of feathered-wings and eight lightning bolts coming from behind it just under the word ‘valor.’ Under that, there the head of the Statue of Liberty in a circle, in the star. There were green links encircling the star, making another circle.

            Umbreon blinked in surprise. He didn’t know what to think. “Are you sure this is for me?” He asked.

            “I have been 100% sure since 1942. That’s when he gave it to me to give it to you,” Joe responded.

            Umbreon took the medal in his paws. It was pinned to a small square of dark green cloth from an Air Force uniform. Joe saluted Umbreon. Umbreon took a paw and did his best to salute him back.

 

———

 

            Umbreon left the base that day with a sense of surprise, pride and accomplishment. Glaceon and Pidgeotto were still confused about how the president in 1942 recognized a Pokémon for what it did. Umbreon was completely mystified by it. He had no idea what to think. He put the medal onto the side of the aircraft cockpit.

            “Where are we going now?” Glaceon asked.

            “We are going where no media should be following us to,” Umbreon said.

            “And where would that be?” Pidgeotto asked.

            “Settle in for another long flight, Umbreon said, “We’re going to make out way over to Japan.”

            “Why do we keep going to places that are so far away?” Pidgeotto asked.

            “We need to get three gym badges and get back for the Indigo League Championships. We’re almost halfway across the world, so why don’t we earn some unique badges while we’re here. It’ll up our prestige and show that we worked hard to earn these. The Indigo League is for anyone across the world, with thousands of certified gyms to give out badges. A way to show off skill is all the unique badges.

 

 

Chapter 31

Vertical

 

            Umbreon flew below the peaks of snow-capped mountains somewhere in the Himalayas. He was in Nepal, flying to a little known gym up in the mountains. He was flying through a valley. At the end of it was an airport called the Tenzing-Hillary airport. It is only 1,742 feet long and has a gradient of 11.7%. The airport had minimal lights, which made landing at night very difficult, but Umbreon had no choice.

            He saw lights in the distance and lined up to them. Thankfully, the universal flight language is English, so speaking wouldn’t be a problem. “UGP207 preparing to land at LUA,” Umbreon said.

            “LUA to UGP207, land with extreme caution. There have been wind gusts at 50 knots and there is no way to abort the landing.”

            Umbreon lowered the throttle and deployed the flaps and landing gear. He flew at 110 miles an hour to have the best chance of stopping on the short runway. As he approached, a small wind gust shifted the plane, a reminder of the dangers of landing here. When Umbreon told Glaceon and Pidgeotto about this landing, they were completely scared. They thought Umbreon didn’t have the experience.

            As they approached, Umbreon was having second thoughts about this. It could go wrong in so many ways. Another small gust shifted the plane. He increased the speed by 15 miles per hour to reduce the effects by the small wind gusts. As he was just about to land, a large wind gust threw the plane off course. He was going to crash into the mountainside. Glaceon and Pidgeotto panicked while Umbreon took action. The mountain loomed like a shadow in front of them. They would hit it if Umbreon didn’t land, but he was too far away from the small runway to land.

            Umbreon pushed the throttle to full, the superturbocharged engines revving up. The plane gained a little bit of speed before Umbreon pulled back hard. Forcing the plane into a steep climb. The large elevators controlling the plane’s direction. The airspeed fell as the plane went vertical.

            The sudden increase in noise alerted some of the villagers that something wasn’t right. It sounded like large engines straining for speed. Some looked out their windows only to see the lights on the stealth-black airplane as it maneuvered over the roofs.

            Umbreon had retracted the landing gear and the plane started to flip onto it’s back. The landing flaps assisted the elevators in flipping the plane at this low airspeed. The plane stalled out just 1,000 feet above the ground. The plane was on its back as it hovered in the air for just a fraction of a second. Glaceon and Pidgeotto were looking up, but gazing down on the black roofs of the village houses. The harnesses held them in place in the plane.

            The plane gained speed as it dove down at the village. Umbreon was holding the elevators in the position to make the plane descend, but it would hopefully make the plane ascend while it was upside-down. The plane was almost flattened out just a few dozen feet above the village. It was still going to crash unless the ground just dropped out from under them. Suddenly, the roofs were gone, they had gone off of the edge of the mountain.

            Umbreon dove to gain more speed and rolled the plane until it was flying the right way up. He flew away from the airport, looking for a place wide enough to turn around.

            “LUA to UGP207. Come in UGP207,” The man thought they had crashed.

            “UGP207 to LUA. Everyone is fine. Coming back around for a second landing.”

            Umbreon turned the plane around and flew at 120 miles an hour below the level of the runway. He extended the gear and flew towards the mountainside. Glaceon and Pidgeotto, who had calmed back down slightly, started panicking again.

            “We’re going to crash into the hillside!” Pidgeotto yelled.

            “Don’t worry about it,” Umbreon replied, “Shut up so I can focus.”

            They approached the hillside. A few hundred feet away, Umbreon pulled up, causing the plane to loose speed as it climbed. He set the throttle to 0% and set the heavy plane down at the very end of the runway. He hit the brakes hard, slowing down the plane as it climbed the steep hill. The climb stopped, signaling the end of the runway was near. The plane was still in motion. A wall came into view of them, but they stopped before they could hit it.

            “That’s what I wanted the _first_ time,” Umbreon said, annoyed about the near-disaster.

            He turned the plane sharply right and parked it in an empty space next to the runway. The airport could only hold about 3 small planes and a helicopter. They could only stay for a day.

            Umbreon unhooked himself and opened the cockpit door. Glaceon and Pidgeotto got out before Umbreon slammed it shut and jumped off of the plane.

            “Welcome to the Tenzing-Hillary airport,” Umbreon spat, “Where only 35 people have died and almost three Pokémon.”

            “Almost,” Glaceon echoed.

            “Let’s find a place to sleep out the rest of the night,” Umbreon said, leading them up a path away from the airport.

            He led them to an area sheltered by bushes at the top of the wall at the end of the airport. They laid down and went to sleep as the cold mountain wind gusted around them.

 

Chapter 32

Everest Gym

 

            Umbreon woke up to the sound of engines in the distance. He looked up to see a twin otter aircraft approaching the airfield. He woke Glaceon and Pidgeotto to watch. They were more interested in the view. The steep, short runway by a village, nestled 10,000 feet above sea level in the mountains. They were brought back by Umbreon, who told them to pay attention to the plane, he had a bad feeling about it.

            Umbreon saw it touch down at the end of the runway, the noise of the engines was replaced by a screeching sound of metal meeting asphalt. Umbreon saw that the front landing gear had collapsed, bringing the plane to a stop only halfway up the runway. Without the wheel, the plane was immobilized and the runway was blocked.

            “Let’s go get something to eat,” Umbreon said as he watched people come running over to the plane as the people inside exited.

            A thin trail of smoke floated up from the nose of the airplane. They would be here a while

            They had climbed a bit higher on the mountain to eat some of the raspberries that grew up there. When they were done eating, Umbreon heard the noise of engines straining. He ran back down the hill to the top of the wall. Glaceon and Pidgeotto followed him. Another twin otter aircraft was tied to the one stuck on the runway by a towing strap. The plane was struggling to try and pull it up the runway, and the other plane wasn’t moving.

            “Well would you look at that,” Umbreon said, “We won’t be able to leave while that’s there.”

            Glaceon nodded.

            “We should get going to the gym,” Pidgeotto said.

            They went off in the direction of the little-known gym. “I wonder what it’s called,” Umbreon said.

            Pidgeotto shrugged and Glaceon just kept walking.

 

———

 

            They arrived at the front of the small gym, it was just a white wall around the battle area. There were three rows of benches on either side as they went inside through the wooden doors. This obviously wasn’t used much. They walked up to the battle area. “Hello?” Umbreon called out, “I would like to challenge the gym leader to a battle.”

            Nothing. Not even a whisper responded to his call.

            “Hello!” Umbreon said again, “I would like to battle for a gym badge.”

            “I’ll be out in a second!” Someone called from a room on the opposite side.

            A door opened and a man came out wearing colorful clothes to insulate him from the cold mountain air. “Welcome to Everest Gym,” He said. He seemed much friendlier than the other gym leaders. “We haven’t had a challenger in—” He stopped talking as he realized there was only three Pokémon standing at the other side of the arena, two were ones that he didn’t recognize.

            “Where is the trainer?” He asked himself quietly.

            Umbreon’s sensitive ears picked up the sound, “There is no trainer here.”

            The man looked confused.

            “Everywhere I go, I have to say the same thing,” Umbreon said, “I don’t have a trainer, I speak psychically, and I am here to battle. Do you get it?”

            “Yes,” The man said, still wondering how this Pokémon got here. The only way to get here is a very long hike or by airplane.

            The man turned around and called for someone. He whispered a few words to him and turned around as the other man left.

            “I accept your challenge,” The man said, “Do you mind waiting half an hour while we get some spectators, people here love watching battles.”

            “Sure,” Umbreon said.

 

———

 

            Half an hour later, the rows of benches were filled, and there were even more people on the ground. Seemingly the entire village was inside. _At least there are no cameras or news crews_. Umbreon thought.

            “Before we start!” a referee, the same man who had told the village about the battle, said, “We need to tell the challengers the rules.”

            “This will be a three on three battle. Whoever runs out of useable Pokémon first loses. At stake is an Everest badge. There is no time limit. We haven’t had a good battle in a long time, so make it good. Start now.”

            Pidgeotto went into the battle area. He waited for the trainer to choose his Pokémon.

            “Go, Pidgeot!” He yelled.

            “The first round will be Pidgeot vs. Pidgeotto. Begin!”

            Pidgeotto started out with a quick attack, but Pidgeot dodged it with agility. Umbreon knew this would be a difficult battle for Pidgeotto. He was battling a better version of himself. “Pidgeot, use hurricane!” Pidgeot flapped his wings, creating hurricane-like winds, but Pidgeot just spread his wings and used the wind to glide. Pidgeot gave up on the attack and waited for his trainer to give him another command. Pidgeotto attacked using twister. flapping his wings like Pidgeot, he created a small tornado spinning Pidgeot and dizzying him.

            Pidgeotto attacked using another quick attack, and hit Pidgeot. “Pidgeot, use tackle!” Pidgeot tackled Pidgeotto and held him on the ground using his clawed foot. “Pick him up and fly!” The gym leader said. Pidgeotto was picked up as Pidgeot flew into the air. “Fly up and smash him into the ground!”

            Umbreon watched as Pidgeot flew into the air, turned around, and started coming back down fast. Pidgeotto struggled to free himself, only managing to free one of his wings. He waited until the ground was fairly close and stuck out his wing. The wind caught on his extended wing and caused drag, spinning the unbalanced Pidgeot. Pidgeot panicked and let go of Pidgeotto, who took the opportunity to attack.

            He used a tackle sending Pidgeot down to the ground in a thud, where he struggled to get up, but he couldn’t. “Pidgeotto wins the round!” The referee yelled. The crowd was quiet. They clearly wanted Umbreon and his small team to lose. Pidgeotto, exhausted, exited the battle area, and Glaceon took his place. They waited for the gym leader to choose his next Pokémon. “Go, Blastoise!” He yelled.

            This wouldn’t be easy for Glaceon, but if they won this one, they would get the badge from majority. Glaceon and Blastoise waited for the other to attack first, but Glaceon was extremely impatient. The crowd started encouraging them to battle. Glaceon moved to attack, he was using ice fang. Blastoise turned around and Glaceon was unable to hurt him through the thick shell. Glaceon fell back. “Blastoise, use hydro pump!” Blastoise aimed his water cannons at Glaceon, who was trying to get up.

            He blasted water at Glaceon, blasting him back. He was headed straight for Umbreon, who stopped him. Blastoise was still using his water cannon. Umbreon struggled to keep his friend in balance while keeping his own. His paws were sliding on the ground, but he dug them in. Blastoise stopped his hydro pump and Glaceon bounded back into the battle area.

            “Remember about the flak attacks I taught you!” Umbreon yelled, “They’ll be useful here!” Glaceon nodded and used what he learned. Shards of ice were blasted out of his mouth towards Blastoise. It looked like a normal ice shard attack, until the shards of ice exploded into ice fragments, causing even more damage. Blastoise was barely able to recover from the strange attack when Glaceon used a quick attack.

            Blastoise looked up just in time to see Glaceon coming towards him. He quickly raised a hand and stopped the attack by intercepting Glaceon and sending him to the ground. Glaceon was badly hurt at this point and struggled to get up, but Blastoise tackled him, sending his back to Umbreon who stopped his friend once again. Umbreon supported Glaceon with his shoulder. “No more,” Glaceon said weakly.

            “Glaceon says no more!” Umbreon told the referee.

            “Glaceon is unable to battle. Blastoise wins!” The ref said.

            The crowd cheered, just giving Umbreon another reason to battle. He stepped into the battle area. The gym leader returned his tired Blastoise and exchanged it for another Pokémon. _Whatever it is, don’t let it be a fire type._ Umbreon thought. “Go, Ninetales!” he yelled. Umbreon looked back at Glaceon and Pidgeotto, they all knew Umbreon’s secret weakness to fire. This Ninetales was huge, over twice the size than it should be. The crowd cheered louder, for the gym leader, of course.

            Umbreon used agility and looked like he was about to attack, but used double team against Ninetales who was about to use a counterattack. Ninetales looked around at the copies of Umbreon that were surrounding him. “Use tail whip!” The leader said.

            Ninetales whipped its tail around extremely fast, making contact with the real Umbreon sending him back across the arena. Umbreon used a quick attack this time. He had been practicing it giving it more speed and more power. Ninetales was ready, rooting himself into the ground, he stopped Umbreon’s attack, letting most of the energy disperse, but was still hurt by it. Umbreon returned to his spot on the other end of the battle area. “Ninetales, toss him!”

            Ninetales ran forward and grabbed Umbreon with his jaws. The thing he didn’t know is that Umbreon has toxic sweat. It immediately poisoned Ninetales and disabled the attack, where he would’ve been thrown across the arena. Umbreon stepped back and started an attack as Ninetales was recovering from the toxic attack. “Ninetales, use flamethrower!”

            Ninetales spat a stream of fire at Umbreon who stopped his advance. Glaceon watched as the fire engulfed Umbreon. He never saw him escape the flames. Ninetales stopped the attack only to see scorched earth and a small hole. Umbreon had used his dig attack to escape, and get the advantage of being undetected by his enemy. Umbreon dug behind Ninetales and popped out of the ground, tackling it. He used a smog attack to put a cloud of toxic gas around Ninetales, screening his escape.

            “Ninetales, use flamethrower!” Umbreon ran away from the gas as fast as he could. He knew what would happen if Ninetales used the attack. The gas ignited as Ninetales tried to clear it with flamethrower. There was an explosion as Umbreon ran away. The smoke cleared and Ninetales was laying dazed on the ground. “Ninetales is unable to battle, Umbreon wins!” The ref said. The crowd was silent.

            The leader returned Ninetales and readied his last Pokémon, Blastoise, who won his battle against Glaceon. The crowd cheered.

            “Hey Glaceon,” Umbreon yelled, “Bring on a nice cool breeze, if you can. I need the cold to retain my energy.”

            None of the people understood what he said, only the Pokémon did. A cool breeze flowed through the arena and the surrounding area as the gym leader deployed his Blastoise for battle. Umbreon was worn out from his battle with Ninetales, but Blastoise was fully rested. Umbreon would have to use his head instead of his power.

            Umbreon faced Blastoise, who waited for him to make the first move, but Umbreon was patient. Minutes went by as Umbreon sat opposite of Blastoise as the crowd jeered.

            “Umbreon!” Glaceon yelled, you’ll have to make the first move! Blastoise isn’t going to move until you do!”

            Umbreon acknowledged him, got up, closed his eyes and planned his attack.

            Umbreon planned out the attack in his head, trying to think of all the possibilities. He opened his eyes and moved forwards. He used a quick attack. “Blastoise, use water gun!” Umbreon had predicted exactly what would happen. Umbreon jumped high into the air, avoiding the attack. He landed behind Blastoise and used a quick attack, nailing Blastoise in the back. It fell forward and landed on the ground, where Umbreon used poison flak on its exposed head. It had less stamina since Glaceon’s battle with it.

            Blastoise used a tackle attack and it hit Umbreon, sending him tumbling back across the arena. “I have defeated your friends, why don’t you just give up,” The leader said. He sent Umbreon back to the past.

 

            _“‘You don’t know when to give up,” Espeon spat._

            Umbreon rose to his feet, rage in his eyes. This was all too familiar for Glaceon and Pidgeotto. They knew the gym leader had just said the wrong words at the wrong time. “No,” Umbreon said firmly, everyone could understand him, “ _You_ don’t know when to give up.” With that, his eyes began to glow. Blastoise was thrown in the air by an invisible force. The gym leader was astonished. “Thanks for letting me get to my psychic attacks,” Umbreon said as Blastoise hit the ground. “Blastoise is unable to battle, Umbreon wins the match!”

            “So Umbreon can only use psychic attacks when a certain trigger is hit,” Pidgeotto noted to himself, “I doubt he’s truly psychic.”

            Umbreon stepped forward to the gym leader. “Congratulations,” He said as he gave him an Everest badge, “You are the first team to defeat me.” The Everest badge was a triangle that was grey on the bottom, but white on top, like a mountain. “Now we will do what the victors deserve for defeating me,” The leader said. The people shifted and cheered. Umbreon noticed something shiny out of the corner of his eye, a man was holding a large knife. Umbreon looked around more, only to see more people with knives and other tools of pain.

 

Chapter 33

Escape

 

            Umbreon ran across the arena to Glaceon and Pidgeotto. “FOLLOW ME!” he yelled around the badge he was holding in his mouth. Glaceon and Pidgeotto followed him up the mountain as the angry people started streaming out of the arena. They fled up the mountain, gaining distance from the angry people. Partway up, Glaceon collapsed, he was too exhausted from the battle to continue.

            “Pidgeotto,” Umbreon said, “Find us some shelter on the mountain, like a cave or something.”

            Pidgeotto flew off as Umbreon watched the angry people continue slowly up the mountain several hundred feet below them.        

            “Glaceon, can you get up?” Umbreon asked.

            Glaceon tried to struggle to his feet but failed. “No,” He said.

            Umbreon looked back down at the people who were still advancing up the mountain, but there weren’t as many people as in the arena. Umbreon thought for a second. He had an idea.

            After a lot of work, Umbreon had positioned Glaceon on top of his back. “Wrap your paws around me,” He said to Glaceon, who then wrapped his paws around his chest. Umbreon started to go back up the mountain. He was getting worried that Pidgeotto hadn’t returned yet.

            Umbreon struggled to get up the mountain. Glaceon had doubled the weight on his paws and was purely dead weight, with the exception of holding on. Umbreon was thankful for Glaceon’s natural body temperature, which was far lower than his. It kept him cool along with the cold mountain air as the ascended. Umbreon heard flapping as Pidgeotto returned.

            “There is a cave about 500 vertical feet above us,” he said,” It’s big enough for us, but the entrance it too small for the humans to get into it.”

            “Thanks,” Umbreon huffed as he struggled to get the exhausted Glaceon up the mountain, “You sure there isn’t anything closer?”

            “We would be too exposed in some of the other ones,” Pidgeotto replied, “And look behind you.”

            The people were still stubbornly advancing up the mountain, but they were starting to slow down and people were turning back, but they were still dangerously close. Umbreon advanced up the mountain with Pidgeotto flying around above, keeping an eye on everything.

 

———

 

            It had been several hours since they left the gym, they were only 150 vertical feet away from the cave, but Umbreon was exhausted. He watched in the fading daylight as the group of people were clumped together. They were talking about something. Umbreon heard a yell as the group split up. Three people started quickly climbing towards them, as the other 15 or so began to descend. Their pace was very fast; they might not make it to the cave in time to escape them.

            Glaceon noticed as Umbreon began to struggle back up the mountain. “Go save yourself,” He said, “Leave me here, they might miss me. I’m only slowing you down.”

            Umbreon stopped for a moment. “I am not leaving anyone behind,” Umbreon said, “You will hang on and I will get you up this mountain. After what happened with Marowak, I am never letting another team member be left behind or killed. You _will_ hang on and we _will_ get up this mountain.”

            Umbreon knew Glaceon understood because he never let go. Umbreon hastened his pace and continued up the mountain. It was dark by the time Umbreon struggled into the small cave, bringing Glaceon in behind him. The three people searching for them were looking for them, disoriented by the darkness. Umbreon sat guard at the entrance to the small cave. He would stay there until the people were gone.

 

———

 

            Glaceon opened his eyes to see that Umbreon was still at the entrance. With his strength renewed, he got up and walked over to him. “Have you been there all night?” He asked.

            “Yes,” Umbreon replied, “I won’t let anything happen to you guys. Battling these gyms is enough hurt for us.”

            The people who were searching for them were returning to the village. “We have to go back down. They’re probably almost done clearing the plane,” Umbreon said, “We’ll leave as the sun starts to set.”

            Umbreon removed himself from his post and walked into the rocky cave, where he closed his eyes. “Don’t go into sight of the village,” Umbreon said as he drifted off into sleep.

 

Chapter 34

Nighttime Cloak

 

            Umbreon opened his eyes, Glaceon and Pidgeotto were sitting in the cave passing time. The sun was low in the horizon. Umbreon got up, drawing their attention. “We need to get going,” He said, walking stiffly from the long trek up. He was sore, but he wouldn’t let that stop him. Outside the cave, Umbreon tried to look for the plane on the runway, but it was too far away to see in the cloudy air.

            “Let’s go,” He said as he began the descent. Glaceon and Pidgeotto followed him. They tried to stay as hidden as possible, which is difficult to do on the side of a mountain. No one in the village below knew that they were coming down to escape.

 

———

 

            As they approached the airport, Umbreon was bewildered to see that the plane was still stuck on the runway. It hadn’t moved despite all the attempts to move it. The runway was still closed.

            “Uh, let’s go down and see if the plane is still in working order,” Umbreon said.

            They went down to the small area where the planes were parked to find a note written on a piece of yellow line paper. It was resting under a rock by the front landing gear.

 

            _Dear owner,_

_We need your help moving the plane stuck on the runway. Please talk to me, the radioman in the tower, to figure something out. We need the power of your plane to clear it from the runway._

_Thanks for your time._

 

            Umbreon read the note and headed for the building, trying not to waste any time. He pushed the door open and went inside. Glaceon and Pidgeotto found him at the door to the tower, hitting it with a paw. Umbreon heard the sound of footsteps coming down stairs. The door opened.

            “Hello?” The man said, expecting to see a person. He looked down to see the trio of Pokémon. “What are these doing here?” He said to himself.

            “I’m here to help with the plane on the runway,” Umbreon said psychically, “You said you needed my plane.”

            “I was expecting a human; you can’t fly a plane.”

            “That’s what you think. How did that plane get here and you never saw a person get out.”

            Umbreon saw the man thinking.

            “You’re right,” He said, “Three shapes got out of the plane that weren’t human.”

            Umbreon followed him as he exited the building.

            “We were gathering tonight to try and move it again, but since you’re here, it’ll be a lot easier.”

            “We just need the people to push our plane into position, which shouldn’t be too hard, but we just defeated the Everest Gym leader and the people weren’t too happy about that,” Umbreon said.

            “Don’t worry,” The man said, “The runway is the lifeline into this place. They’ll take help from anything they can get.”

 

———

 

            Half an hour later, about 30 people were pushing his plane backwards towards the runway. Glaceon and Pidgeotto were also in the cockpit, scared of the people who had come to kill them earlier. The cockpit door was open so he could take in the commands of where to steer and when to brake.

            As he crested the hill, the people were done pushing him. The plane slowly gained speed as the plane rolled backwards down the runway. Glaceon and Pidgeotto kept him in line as he applied the brake to slow the roll. He stopped just 25 feet away from the other plane. He had to hold the brake in place manually.

            “Hurry up and tie the other plane to us!” Umbreon yelled, “I have to hold the brake the whole time!”

            Five minutes later, Umbreon was clear to start the engines. The planes were tied together. He closed the cockpit and pressed the button to start the engines. Screeeeeeeeeeeeee! Tik tik tik tik tik tik tik. The engines roared to life as the remaining people went off to the side of the runway. Umbreon released the brake as the thrust from the plane’s engines held it in place. He throttled up the engines and the plane slowly inched forward.

            He increased the throttle and the plane was moving steadily towards the top of the runway. He dragged the plane off the runway and into the parking area. He looked back to see two black lines on the asphalt. The brakes had been on in the other plane, which didn’t help in any of the previous attempts.

            Umbreon turned off the engines and exited the plane as the radioman approached.

            “Thanks for clearing the runway,” he said, “Is there anything we can do for you?”

            Umbreon thought for a second, “How about a free tank of fuel?”

            “Sure,” he replied, “But you have to go down to Siporin Airport for that. We don’t have any up here. I’ll tell them about why I’m giving it to you.”

            “Thanks,” Umbreon said.

            An hour later, they were on their trip through the dark towards Japan.

            “Have you guys gotten used to flying yet?” Umbreon said.

            There was silence. Umbreon looked back at Glaceon and Pidgeotto to see then sound asleep. “I guess they have,” Umbreon said to himself.

 

Chapter 35

No Suns Rise at the Sunrise Gym

 

            Umbreon flew over ocean, waiting to land at Yakoshrimia Airport. Glaceon and Pidgeotto were still sleeping as they were preparing to land. The sun was painting the horizon with reds, pinks and oranges. _No wonder they call this the land of the rising sun._ He thought. Umbreon touched down softly on the smooth concrete runway of the airport. It had been redone recently.

            Umbreon taxied to a small sheltered area to park his plane. “Hey guys wake up!” He yelled.

            “Where are we now?” Glaceon asked.

            “Were in Japan. Land of the rising sun.” Umbreon replied.

            “I can see why it is called that,” Pidgeotto said.

            “It’s doing well considering that it was almost bombed into oblivion during WWII,” Umbreon said.

            They exited the plane.

            “Let’s get some food and rest before we head to the gym. We only need two more badges.” Umbreon said, “We’ll head over to the Sunrise Gym first. It is known to be one of the more difficult gyms in Japan.

 

———

 

            Three days of resting, eating and training before they approached the futuristic-looking gym. There were many LED lights on the dome-like exterior. They were set to a psychic-purple with colored designs that flashed through it. Umbreon, Glaceon and Pidgeotto were all confident of a victory as they stepped through the automatic doors.

            They approached the main arena. Something didn’t feel right. Umbreon could sense a strong force in the arena. There was an extremely powerful Pokémon waiting inside. He felt his confidence falter as he entered the arena.

            “I have come to challenge the Sunrise Gym leader!” Umbreon said to a man dressed in red on the other side of the battle area.

            “You’ve come to the right place,” He said, seemingly expecting Umbreon to talk.

            “What are the rules?” Umbreon asked.

            “You have to defeat my most powerful Pokémon. You can battle it with all three of you at once, if you would like.”

            Umbreon thought that sounded absurd, so he chose to only go one at a time. That was a decision that saved all of them. Umbreon stepped forward.

            “We will battle one at a time, I will go first,” He said.

            “Very well then,” The gym leader responded calmly, “Come on out, Mewtwo.”

            Umbreon was starting to have second thoughts on this battle, but he knew it would look bad to back out just by the look of a Pokémon. He faced the mutated cat prepared himself for battle. “Let the battle begin,” the gym leader said. Umbreon put his plan into action, but there was a flaw. The other Pokémon was too powerful.

            Umbreon had barely even taken a step forward before the Pokémon’s eyes began to glow purple. Umbreon was flung back hit the wall extremely fast. Hitting it with a loud _thud!_ Then, he fell to the floor with a dull thud. He lay in his side, eyes closed, not moving a muscle.

            “Who wants to go next?” The trainer asked.

            Pidgeotto and Glaceon both shook their heads vigorously and began to back off. It was now Glaceon’s turn to carry. Pidgeotto helped him get Umbreon onto his back. He lay there with his paws, ears and tail hanging limply. His breathing was fast and shallow, they had to get him to the nearest Pokémon center as fast as possible.

 

———

 

            Glaceon hauled Umbreon into the Pokémon center with Pidgeotto keeping Umbreon balanced on Glaceon’s back. There was no one around. There was a small service bell on the desk. Pidgeotto flew onto the front desk and started pecking at the bell. Glaceon started to call out.

            “Help! Someone please help! This is an emergency!” Glaceon yelled, even though a human wouldn’t understand Glaceon’s calls, it would still bring attention.

            The sound of footsteps on the hard tile floor was comforting. Someone was coming to help them. To their surprise, it was Nurse Joy. Unknowing to them, a Nurse Joy is positioned at every Pokémon center, even outside the U.S. It can be very creepy.

            She looked at the Pidgeotto on the desk as it pointed with a wing to Umbreon, who was still resting, unconscious, on Glaceon’s back. She looked at the strange Pokémon for a second before she turned to face a couple of doors. “Chansey! Get the stretcher immediately!” She yelled.

            The doors burst open as two Chanseys rolling a stretcher ran towards them. They stopped next to Glaceon and Umbreon. Nurse Joy carefully transferred Umbreon onto the stretcher and rolled it back through the double doors. They could only wait until he was better, or at least stabilized.

            “How did Umbreon get me up a mountain,” Glaceon said, “It’s hard enough carrying him 1,500 feet to the Pokémon center.”

            “He just doesn’t give up,” Pidgeotto said, “He never gives up.”

            “I have a feeling he would’ve given up if he was still awake after the first move,” Glaceon said, “But I won’t be surprised if he takes us back there.”

            They diverted their attention back to the double doors. They could only wait to see if their friend was going to be okay.

 

Chapter 36

Wake Up Call

 

            Umbreon had been in a coma for three days now, but his condition had stabilized long ago and he was improving. Glaceon had turned into an Espeon two days ago. He had been worried about what Umbreon would think of him, but they were overshadowed by his fears about what would happen to Umbreon.

            Espeon looked up as he heard Umbreon shift in the bed. He was waking up. Espeon looked at Pidgeotto and they both got up to go over to Umbreon.

            “Be careful,” Nurse Joy said, “He’s still very weak.”

            They went over to him. He was now laying on his back. Espeon got up onto the bed and stood over Umbreon, blocking out some of the light from his eyes. It would help him after he had been in the dark for three days. Umbreon blinked open his eyes. There was a look of cluelessness in his narrow eyes. He didn’t know where he was and how he had gotten there.

            Umbreon felt his consciousness return and opened his eyes. He didn’t know where he was. He saw the shape of a head above him, blocking out some of the light. He couldn’t identify who it was though. He waited a few seconds so his eyes could adjust to the light, and to his surprise, he saw Espeon above him.

            Umbreon’s mind took over and he saw Espeon standing close to him in a desert. Not just any Espeon, but his father. He was immediately filled with rage. He was going to get rid of his corrupt father once and for all. He gathered his strength to attack.

            Espeon saw the look of cluelessness turn into anger. Before Espeon could react, Umbreon shot out of the bed and grabbed Espeon by the neck. Pidgeotto watched in complete sock as Umbreon flipped themselves in mid-air so Espeon was below him. He slammed Espeon onto the floor and kept him pinned by his neck. He was charging an attack. A powerful one too. Espeon was too surprised to do anything. He just lay on his back with a shocked look on his face.

            Pidgeotto watched as a small, glowing white ball started to form in Umbreon’s mouth. If Umbreon used this attack this close to Espeon, it would surely kill him. Pidgeotto flew forward and tried to get Umbreon’s attention.

            Umbreon was almost done charging his hyper beam when he felt something nudging him, trying desperately to get his attention. He looked back at whoever was doing this with a sidelong glance. He saw Pidgeotto trying to get his attention. _Why does Pidgeotto want me to stop? I am doing the world a favor by getting rid of my father,_ Umbreon thought. He almost turned and used his attack, but he saw something behind Pidgeotto.

            Umbreon became more aware of his surroundings and saw that Nurse Joy was standing behind him. _What is she doing here?_ Umbreon thought, confused. He saw other things too. It looked as if he was inside the back of a Pokémon center, because he was. He looked back at Espeon and saw the eyes of Eevee. He stopped the attack; the air fizzling from the dispersing energy.

            Umbreon looked down at Espeon, frozen in shock that he had almost killed his friend. He saw Espeon looking back up at him, not sure what to do. Umbreon felt his eyes water.  
            “I’m so sorry,” Umbreon sobbed as he hid his face, “I’ve always been afraid of hurting one of you because of my terrible life, and my father, and just everything that happened to me that makes me angry.”

            Umbreon got away from Espeon, not sure what to do about what just happened. Umbreon felt fully awake and felt better after what just happened. The adrenaline shock had boosted him to wellness.

            “We’d better get going,” Umbreon said, “I don’t want to cause any more trouble here.”

            He turned tail and ran into the lobby and out of the Pokémon center. Espeon and Pidgeotto had no choice but to follow.

            They found him sitting outside looking up at the half-moon. The blue rings on his body were giving off a slight glow. They approached him.

            “Umbreon?” Espeon asked.

            Umbreon turned his head to look at him. He then jumped up and looked like he was going to attack. His fur was bristling.

            “Umbreon,” Espeon said, “It’s okay. It’s just me.”

            Umbreon relaxed. “I’m sorry,” He said, “Every time I see you, it reminds me of my father.”

            “It’s okay,” Espeon said, “I understand.”

            “We should get going to the next gym,” Umbreon said.

            “But you’ve only just recovered,” Pidgeotto blurted out.

            “Remember what I said?” Umbreon replied, “Never underestimate the power of the moon. Now let’s get going. There are two ways to get to the next town; a 30-mile road, or a 7-mile trail going through the Umbra Forest at the bottom of Mt. Fuji.”

            “I choose the 7-mile route,” Espeon said.

            “Me too,” Pidgeotto said.

            “The only thing is that the Umbra forest is also known as the death forest. Many Pokémon, and people enter, but less exit. They go missing in the forest,” Umbreon said, “We should go through it in the daylight so it’ll be safer.”

            “I don’t believe these Japanese legends,” Espeon said.

            “I don’t either,” Pidgeotto said, “Let’s go in the morning just to be sure.”

 

Chapter 37

Forest Gym

 

            They had been walking through the Umbra forest all day. It was a strange feeling walking through it. The trees were twisted and distorted. Almost everything was covered in moss. People’s belongings could be seen from time to time. Strings of ribbon or rope sometimes jutted out into the forest. The amount of light that came through the dense canopy gave the forest a strange feel. As if it was closing in around you.

            The worst part was the silence. There was no wind, no sounds of other Pokémon or people. The only signs of life in the forest was the sound of Umbreon’s and Espeon’s paws on the dirt and the sound of Pidgeotto’s wings.

            “I can see why they call it the Umbra forest,” Espeon said, “It is so creepy in here.”

            “With no sound, no other life, and little light, no wonder the legends have sprouted from here,” Umbreon said, “But what about the ribbons and belongings?”

            “I don’t know,” Pidgeotto said, “We should just pass through here quickly. We’re almost through.”

 

———

 

            They came out of the forest onto a road. They were in the next town. There were a couple of people walking by when they came out of the woods. They gave the trio of Pokémon a strange look before hastening their pace. There was something off about that forest. Anyways, they headed for the gym.

            “The gym has no name,” Umbreon said, “It’s quite strange.”

            “Why would you make a gym, but not give it a name?” Pidgeotto asked.

            “I don’t know,” Umbreon responded.

            They arrived at the gym a short while later. The gym was made completely out of wood. Some of the beams that were used in construction were massive, over five feet thick. They walked into the strange building and entered into the battle area. The high arched roof was held up with huge, curved wooden beams. It was the strangest, but most beautiful building Umbreon had ever seen.

            “I challenge the gym leader to a battle,” Umbreon yelled out.

            “I accept,” A voice said from the other side. The voice sounding strange in the all-wood structure, “Who will go first?”

            “Pidgeotto will,” Umbreon replied.

 

———

 

            “I have to say,” Umbreon said as he walked out of the gym, “That man was funny.”

            “And we won,” Pidgeotto said, “So all we need is one more badge.”

            “Where are we going to get it?” Espeon asked, “Don’t say the sunrise gym.”

            “Well I have to ignore your pleas,” Umbreon said, “We are going to show the Sunrise gym leader that we are better than that Mewtwo.”

            “But he almost killed you!” Pidgeotto exclaimed.

            “Another thing to remember,” Umbreon said, “I _don’t_ quit.”

            “So what is our plan until then?” Espeon asked.

            “We are going to stay here and adjust to the different time zone until the full moon, then go back to Yakoshrimia and train for a while,” Umbreon said.

            “Let’s start,” Pidgeotto said.

 

Chapter 38

Umbra

 

            On the night of the full moon, Umbreon led Espeon and Pidgeotto into the Umbra forest. They wanted to go through at night because they wanted to see if anything strange happened at night. Umbreon chose the night of the full moon because that’s when dark type Pokémon were at their strongest. Or so he thought.

            “So I heard more rumors about this place,” Umbreon said, “I found one to be quite strange.”

            “What is it?” Espeon said.

            “The reason for the deaths is a ghost type Pokémon called Litwick, who was a flame on its head that is fueled by the souls of other Pokémon, or even people.”

            “I just think that is a legend,” Pidgeotto said.

            “I do too,” Umbreon replied, not watching where he was going, “There needs to be more proof of th—,” He was cut off as he stumbled over something soft and cold laying on the ground.

            “What was that?” Espeon asked Umbreon as he got up from the ground.

            “I wasn’t watching where I w—,” He looked behind him at what he tripped over and trailed off.

            “Was going….” He finished.

            On the ground behind him lay a Vulpix, but it definitely wasn’t sleeping. Umbreon went over and put an ear on its chest and waited for a second.

            “It’s dead,” He concluded.

            “I wonder why?” Pidgeotto said.

            “Look at its eyes!” Espeon said.

            Umbreon looked to see that they were locked open. They were grey and devoid of all color.

            “I know that dead Pokémon don’t lose the color in their eyes,” Umbreon said, “But the strange thing is that the dead humans and Pokémon found in this forest all have colorless eyes.”

            “Maybe the legends are true,” Espeon said.

            The blue rings on Umbreon that always glow faintly in the moonlight started to glow harshly.

            “What’s happening with you?” Pidgeotto asked.

            “We gotta run,” He said, “We have aggressive ghost Pokémon nearby. This is basically my warning system for when they get too close.”

            Umbreon had chosen this night to walk through the forest because it had a full moon. Umbreon thought the full moon was when he was the most powerful, but it was really the no-moon that he was. Tonight was when the ghost Pokémon were the most powerful. They had chosen the worst night to travel through the Umbra forest. They were only three miles down the trail, too far out from the other side, but too far in to turn back.

            Umbreon started running down the trail, the moon and his glowing rings providing the light they needed. He was running fast and Espeon could just about keep up while Pidgeotto was flying low overhead. Umbreon’s rings started glowing more. He put on extra speed, but the rings kept glowing brighter and brighter. Whatever was chasing him was aggressive, and fast.

            He increased his speed even more, he was now traveling flat out down the winding path. Even though he was going as fast as he could, he couldn’t outrun whatever was pursuing him. He felt his energy draining, but it wasn’t just because he was running so fast, something else was leeching the energy away. His limbs became hard to control; he was feeling like he was being pulled away from his own body.

            Espeon and Pidgeotto watched as Umbreon lost coordination in his legs and fell over, skidding to a stop on the ground. Espeon stopped and looked at his face, it looked half-expressionless. The rings on his body were fading as well as the color in his eyes. He was dying.

            Panicking, Espeon took off down the trail with Pidgeotto just behind in flight. Umbreon watched through the darkness that was encircling his vision as Espeon and Pidgeotto fled.

            “Don’t go,” He said almost silently.

 

———

 

            Espeon and Pidgeotto made it back to Yakoshrimia safely, but Umbreon was still somewhere in the woods, but there was nothing they were willing to do. Neither of them wanted to go back into that forest. All they could do was start getting used to life here. Umbreon was the only one who could fly them home. He was also the only one that would be brave, or stupid, enough to get them on a flight back to America. Even if they got there, how would they get home, they didn’t even know where home was.

            “Maybe, just maybe,” Espeon said, “If we wait here, he might come back.”

            “He is always good at escaping death,” Pidgeotto said, “But I have a bad feeling about this time.”

            “You’re right,” Espeon responded, “What if he never comes back?”

            “I don’t know…”

            “I guess we’ll just be stuck here.”

 

 

 

 

Chapter 39

Darkness

 

            Umbreon found himself staring at a Litwick. It was the one that had killed him. It was trying to use his soul as fuel. Dark Pokémon are always the best for fuel because they are the closest to ghost type. He had discretely moved his cold body into thick bushes on the side of the trail. He was now staring at something that could kill him after he had died. He felt a strong wind pushing, or pulling him towards the Litwick, he had to run.

            He turned and fled, just barely escaping the grasp of the Litwick. He looked very different than when he was alive. His body was outlined in blue, along with the rings on his body and his eyes, nose and mouth. A faint blue glow filled in all of the empty space. It was strange, he was dead, but seemingly alive at the same time. With no feeling of hunger or exhaustion, he was basically unstoppable. He wasn’t happy with it though, he wanted to leave, as a living Umbreon, not just a blue outline lost in the mist.

            Daytime was approaching, but he couldn’t stop moving or close his eyes against the harsh light. Anything might sneak up on him, and no matter how weird it sounds, kill his soul. He had to stay awake until the new moon. Easy, he had infinite energy.

 

———

 

            It was the night of the new moon. The forest was now completely entrenched in darkness. This was the true time he was the strongest, and no ghost Pokémon would be out because this is when they are the weakest. He had learned many new tricks from his time spent as dead. If he could get out of here and get back to his friends, he could very well surprise them.

            The forest was very boring during the daytime, so he found ways to do things. The best part was when he could scare the occasional traveler. It also became useful to him. He would usually by invisible to anything living, but the amount he was actively communicating with the living world, he was becoming more visible, until he was almost a living being.

            Only two days ago, he spotted a pair of people exploring the forest. They were also filming it. He made sure they had the time of their lives while exploring, slowly getting closer to them as they went deeper into the silent. He started out as making noises from a distance. Then he made sure he was spotted by them from a distance, which made them fearful. He then slowly got closer and closer, but they still willed on into the forest. He knew how to force a hasty retreat onto them.

            He made sounds behind them, making them nervous. They increased in volume as they started to go even deeper into the forest. Then, when they were just about to turn back because of fear, he made his final blow. He made a loud noise behind them, causing them to turn around. Expecting to see something, they scanned the area before turning around to continue. Umbreon was ready, he stood right in front of them. After they turned around, they saw him in full form in front of them. That’s when they turned back around and fled. Umbreon got a kick out of doing this. It was funny to him.

            Back to the present, Umbreon was nearing the place where he hid his body. He was about to cross the trail to get to it when he saw a gaseous form hovering over it. Usually Litwick were by his body, expecting him to try and come back to escape. He went back off into the woods and hid for an hour and a half, until he was sure that it was gone.

            He came back. Nothing was outside of, or in the bush. Nothing. His body was missing too. Whatever that was hovering over it must have taken it. It could’ve been lost spirits and souls, along with Gastly too. A Gastly was now in control of his body, and Umbreon now couldn’t escape. He turned and ran towards the exit of the forest path.

            The sky was starting to glow with early morning light. He had no more than an hour to find the imposter. The paw prints in the damp dirt led him towards Yakoshrimia. He had to find himself before Espeon and Pidgeotto found it.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 40

Somehow Alive

 

            Espeon had changed into an Umbreon and Pidgeotto was still Pidgeotto, though he was hoping to evolve soon. They woke up early in the morning on the night of the new moon. The sky was just starting to glow on the horizon. Eevee, now an Umbreon, still had the faint hope in his head that Umbreon might return. They were referring to the morphing Umbreon as Eevee, and Umbreon, who was still dead, was just referred to as Umbreon.

            A weak breeze flowed through the empty city. Eevee thought he spotted something on the far end of the street.

            “Pidgeotto?” Eevee asked.

            “What?” He responded.

            “Do you see that outline?” Eevee asked again.

            “What outline?”

            “The one on the far end of the street. Down there.”

            “Oh yea. I do.”

            “Could you fly over and see what it is?”

            Pidgeotto flew off and circled whatever it was for less than a minute. He started flying back fast. He landed in front of Eevee.

            “It’s Umbreon!” He shouted.

            “What?” Eevee responded.

            “He doesn’t look quite righ—.” Pidgeotto said.

            “Let’s go greet him!” Eevee cut him off.

            Eevee ran off to greet Umbreon, and Pidgeotto had no choice but to follow. It took them a couple of minutes to reach him. He looked like the Umbreon they all knew from a distance, but when Eevee got closer, something didn’t look right.

            Umbreon looked tired. His fur was all ruffled up and he was walking as if he spent the majority of his life floating. His steps were uncoordinated and he was stumbling a lot. His eyes were pointed at the ground, he didn’t even notice Eevee and Pidgeotto.

            “Hey Umbreon!” Eevee shouted to get his attention.

            Umbreon looked up, but his eyes looked strange. Instead of the yellow that they usually were, they were purple. Eevee took a step back, Umbreon didn’t have purple eyes. Umbreon showed signs of aggression too. He would’ve known what they looked like when he saw them, but he didn’t.

            “Relax Umbreon,” Pidgeotto said, “I know we left you, but we panicked. We thought you were dead.”

            Umbreon stayed silent. He swiped at Pidgeotto with a heavy paw. Then he tried to tackle Eevee, but they just dodged his uncoordinated attacks. They weren’t willing to fight him; after what he had done for them. He wasn’t acting like himself. He continued to try and attack, but Eevee and Pidgeotto fled, leaving him once again on the empty streets.

            Eevee and Pidgeotto went all the way back to the airport where they arrived at. They went to the plane; it was still there. Eevee climbed into the plane.

            “We need to find out how to get out of here!” He yelled

            “We can’t just leave him here!” Pidgeotto said.

            “Get in,” Eevee shouted, “We need to leave.”

            Eevee looked down at the controls.

            “Are you kidding me,” Eevee said to himself, “I don’t even know how this works. How would we ever leave?”

            Pidgeotto was relived, Eevee had come back to reality. He knows how hard it is to have a friend change that much.

            “Let’s just go back to the city,” Pidgeotto said.

            “Okay,” Eevee said.

            As they walked the short distance back to the city, they had no idea of what Umbreon was doing, or where he was.

            They went back to the alleyway that they had been using as home base for more than two weeks. Eevee sat down and sighed.

            “I wish Umbreon was just normal,” He said, “If we could combine our powers, we could battle again and win at the Sunrise gym.”

            “But we need to find him, and make sure he isn’t completely insane now,” Pidgeotto said.

            “If he wasn’t insane enough already, “Eevee joked.

They saw a dark figure walk across the entrance, it was Umbreon. Eevee got up, signaling his attention. Umbreon stopped and stared at them in the alleyway, he was blocking the only exit. He still looked aggressive. Eevee realized that this wasn’t the Umbreon they all knew, but it was at the same time. It was almost like something else was controlling his body. Unknowing to them, that’s exactly what was happening.

            Above them, Umbreon was searching for the Gastly who was controlling his body. He had been looking for a while now, and the sun was starting to break over the horizon. It would be difficult to search in the bright daylight. He was invisible as he bounded through the city, looking around to look for any sign of his friends, or his body.

            He spotted himself at the entrance to an alleyway. It was approaching a Pidgeotto and an Umbreon. _That must be Pidgeotto and Eevee!_ Umbreon thought. _But then there’s me… How am I going to take my body back without alerting them to my presence?_ _I can’t let them see that I really died, it would scare them more._ Umbreon tried to think of a solution to the problem. _I guess the only way to do it is a full-frontal assault. I will have to make myself visible._

            Umbreon floated onto the roof of a three story building next to the alley. He made himself visible and got Gastly’s attention.

            “Hey there!” He shouted, “You, Ghastly! Get out of me!”

            Eevee and Pidgeotto heard a strange and somewhat distorted voice coming from above. They looked up to see a blue silhouette of Umbreon. They were confused. He was living right in front of them, but dead above them. They didn’t know which one was real, if either was.

            “Hey Eevee and Pidgeotto,” Umbreon shouted at them, “That isn’t me! It’s a Gastly that is posing as me! You have to attack it!”

            Eevee and Pidgeotto were overwhelmed and confused about the entire situation. They ran to the back and hid behind some crates. They didn’t know what to do, so they just waited for the problem to solve itself, hopefully.

            Umbreon saw them hide, he knew he would have to take this into his own hands. He jumped down from the top of the building, effortlessly pushing Gastly to the ground. He was a spirit, while Gastly was now a living being, Gastly had the disadvantage. “Get out!” Umbreon shouted, “Leave and return to your own place! You have no right to be here!”

            Eevee and Pidgeotto were both afraid to look at what was happening, it was just too confusing.

            Umbreon had to get Gastly out of his body, but he didn’t know how. He just caused pain to it, hoping that it would leave. It wasn’t working, his attacks caused pain, but Gastly was persistent, even though the sense of pain was new to it. Umbreon continued his attacks. He looked towards where Eevee and Pidgeotto were hiding. He saw Eevee’s two Umbreon ears sticking up over the box. _I’m fighting for you._ He thought. _You are the only reason why I’m still here._

            It seemed there was no way to get Gastly out of his body, he would have to take it to the extreme. The sun was high in the sky, making Umbreon weak. As just a spirit, the direct sunlight was extremely bright to him. He had been fighting for over an hour, thankfully he had taken it back to a place where no one would notice the strange fight.

            The only way he could get Gastly out of his body was killing him. There had to be a better way, if he killed his abducted body, he couldn’t live in it anymore. This was very confusing to him. He looked for another way to get Gastly out. He thought back to when Litwick separated his spirit from his body to use as energy. He might be able to do it.

            Umbreon focused all of his energy at Gastly. He sensed something inside of his body that wasn’t what it should be. He focused his energy there and the rings on his body began to glow slightly. They got brighter and brighter, he knew it was working. The purple colored eyes of Gastly began to fade into grey. Umbreon’s body fell to the floor as he continued to separate Gastly from it.

            Eevee and Pidgeotto peered out from behind the crate. They saw Umbreon’s body lying on the ground with his spirit focused on it. A gaseous form appeared on by Umbreon and quickly flew away. Umbreon’s body looked like it had when Eevee and Pidgeotto ran away from him in the Umbra forest. Dull and lifeless with grey eyes.

            Not wasting a second, Umbreon quickly stepped back into his body. He opened his eyes, the color had returned. He got up and looked down at his paws, he was back to normal. He felt very tired and sick. He was also sore from the attacks he did to himself. He tried to walk over to Eevee and Pidgeotto, but his nausea was too severe. He leaned over and threw up, then tried to walk again. He made it a couple of steps until the world was spinning too much. He fell onto his side and passed out.

            Eevee and Pidgeotto ran from behind the crate to Umbreon. They looked at him, he was breathing steadily.

            “Will he be okay?” Eevee asked.

            “It’ll only be a little bit before he recovers,” Pidgeotto said, “I think he isn’t the only one who needs to recover too. After what we saw….”

            “...But how does this happen?”

            Pidgeotto shook his head.

 

Chapter 41

Defeating the Sun

 

            Umbreon opened his eyes, he was looking up into the dimly lit early morning sky. The air was freezing and snow covered the surrounding area. It had been four months since Umbreon had been reunited. It was late March. They had all been training hard to get the strength to defeat the Sunrise Gym leader. Umbreon had been training side by side with Eevee in hopes of their combined power overthrowing the Mewtwo. He woke up and looked at Pidgeotto and…

            Eevee wasn’t an Umbreon anymore, he was now a Sylveon. Their plan of using their combined power of the two Umbreons had failed before it had even started. Umbreon walked to the edge of the ridge and looked down upon the lands of Japan. They had been climbing Mt. Fuji as an endurance and strength building challenge. They were camped out at the top after their seventh climb in three months.

            He watched the sun rise, trying not to think about how their hard work had just been wasted effort. Umbreon had to find a way to get Sylveon to turn back into an Umbreon. He lost his train of thought and stared off at the colorful morning sky. He sat there, feeling himself be warmed by the morning sunlight.

            “I’m sorry,” He heard Sylveon say behind him, “I didn’t mean to change.”

            “It’s okay,” Umbreon said, “It had to happen eventually.”

            “It isn’t okay.”

            “I know,” Umbreon sighed, “We need to find a way to change you back, or we might just have to go to a different gym back in America.”

            They went and woke up Pidgeotto, and with much complaining from him, they started down the dormant volcano. It took them all day to get down the mountain. They set up camp on a flat rock by a stream. The waning moon was out by the time they were about to go to sleep.

            “Wait,” Umbreon said to Sylveon,” We should try to make you change back.”

            “Good idea,” Sylveon said.

            Pidgeotto was asleep by the time they left to get Sylveon to change back into an Umbreon. They walked out into a grassy area.

            “Alright,” Umbreon started off,” Since you are a fairy type now, it might be easy to change yourself. All you have to do is be like an Umbreon. Act like one, think like one, recite the attacks, and don’t forget to be confident. I’ll be waiting right behind you.”

            Umbreon used his special attack to blend in with the darkness. It appeared that Umbreon wasn’t anywhere near him, but Sylveon was too busy to notice, he was too focused on changing. Umbreon watched as he tried and tried to change, to no avail. After an hour of attempts, Sylveon gave up.

            “Hey Umbreon,” He called out, “It isn’t…,” He trailed off, not seeing him where he said he was. He panicked and accidentally gave one last try to change, and this time it worked. He changed into an Umbreon.

            Umbreon made himself visible once again where he said he would be waiting. It was right in front of Eevee. The two Umbreons looked at each other.

            “As I told you, I would be waiting right here,” Umbreon said, “Did you not believe me?”

            “Damit, don’t do that again!” Eevee said.

            “Don’t worry, I will,” Umbreon replied, “Now let’s get a good night’s sleep. We will be battling tomorrow night.

 

———

 

            The next night was the night of the no moon. They specifically chose it because it was when they were the most powerful. They walked through the darkness towards the gym. The lights were on; it was open. They walked up to the doors of the gym and entered, the LED’s pulsating purple designs on the exterior.

            They walked down the hall to the second set of doors, once they opened these, they would have to battle. Umbreon stopped at the doors and took a deep breath. They had gone back to the plane and gotten the chain of .50 caliber bullets and the cloth with the gym badges on it. He was looking menacing with them on, but it didn’t change how nervous he felt about battling after what happened the first time.

            “You guys nervous?” Pidgeotto said.

            “Very,” Eevee replied for them.

            “I’m glad I don’t have to battle in this, but at the same time, I want to stand by you guys,” Pidgeotto said.

            “You might as well prepare yourself,” Umbreon said, “Because I have no idea what is going to happen on the other side of these doors.”

            He stepped forward and pushed the doors open. “I challenge the gym leader to a rematch,” He spat.

            “I have been waiting for you to come back,” The leader said, “This time, I will truly get rid of you all.”

            “So how is this going to be fought?” Umbreon asked.

            “Same as before. All of you versus my Mewtwo.”

            “Get up here Eevee,” Umbreon said, “This is it.”

            The Mewtwo teleported in, ready to battle.

            “Just toss them like before Mewtwo,” The leader said.

            “Just remember what we practiced,” Umbreon whispered to Eevee.

            “We begin now.”

            Mewtwo instantly tried to throw them like before, but the psychic energy was absorbed by their own psychic shield. Mewtwo tried three more times before stopping, the pair of Umbreons were holding their ground. They started to approach, slowly. They kept their shield in front of them, blocking any psychic attacks. They started a dual tackle attack, but the immense energy of Mewtwo halted their approach. They were forced to retreat from the energy. This battle was going to be a standoff.

            They stood facing each other, trying more psychic attacks. Physical ones were useless in this attack. It had been three hours; the night was at its darkest point. The Umbreon’s were the strongest they could be, but the Mewtwo was just too powerful. The two of them couldn’t defeat it. What Mewtwo had been doing was wearing down the Umbreon’s energy, but he was spending his own too. The weakest link was Eevee, who wasn’t as experienced as Umbreon. He was the one that could fail first.

            Mewtwo charged one of his more powerful attacks. It was a twin shadow ball attack that struck both of the Umbreons. The attack was mostly absorbed by the shield. Umbreon absorbed the rest attack, but the less experienced Eevee was hit and violently tumbled back. Umbreon looked back at him, he was laying on his side, eyes closed. He was on his own, but he wasn’t giving up.

            The gym leader laughed. He pressed a button and the windows were covered and the doors locked.

            “You should’ve _given up_ long ago,” He said.

            “If I ever,” Umbreon spat back, angered by the thought of giving up.

            “Now, since you are weakened, I will finish you off once and for all,” The leader said, “That’s right. You’re as good as dead.”

            “You think you can kill us that easily?” Umbreon challenged.

            “Why are you so aggressive?” The leader asked, “You should be comforted by dying knowing how _pathetically_ weak you are.”

            Umbreon’s ears twitched, that was his last straw, but the gym leader continued.

            “Your attacks have _no power_ over my Mewtwo’s, why didn’t you just _give up_ while you could?” He mocked.

            Umbreon was way over his limit on how much mockery relating to his father he could take. The angry scowl on his face changed into an eerily familiar grin. An evil grin. Pidgeotto saw it and recognized it, but he didn’t know from where. He remembered, the grin Umbreon’s father had just before Umbreon had killed him. He was nervous about what would happen next. Eevee had woken up and silently cleared himself off of the arena floor, he saw what Umbreon was doing.

            Umbreon was completely fueled by rage. He knew something like this would happen eventually, so he practiced using the rage as fuel, but no one knew what happens when there is too much. The energy might just be too much for Umbreon.

            Something appeared by Umbreon’s paws. It looked like they were on fire, if the fire was blue and in slow motion. His eyes had the same effect on them. At that moment, he was the most powerful Pokémon in the room, and he was going to use it to his advantage.

            Umbreon laughed slowly, just like his father had not so long ago. “You have made a big mistake,” He said smoothly, a hint of evil in his voice, “Thanks.”

            Eevee and Pidgeotto feared for their lives as they watched him. It was as if he was turning into his father. Umbreon took a step forward. “I hope you came prepared,” He said.

            “What’s with the big change?” The gym leader mocked, “I thought you were happy knowing that you would die as just a weak little Pokémon.”

            Umbreon growled something indistinguishable. He then ran forward in a quick attack, slicing Mewtwo’s psychic attack in half. He pierced through Mewtwo’s energy shield. It was Mewtwo’s last line of defense for physical attacks. Although Mewtwo was seemingly the most powerful Pokémon ever, it had a flaw. It relied so much on psychic ability, that it didn’t have any physical offensive or defensive capabilities. It was created to attack and defend only psychically. Umbreon had breached the barriers and was now impossible to stop.

            He hit Mewtwo hard and sent him back. It was the first step to victory. The gym leader was shocked by his comeback. Umbreon was preparing for a toxic attack when he heard the gym leader said something to his Mewtwo. He barely heard it over the rush of fury.

            “If you can’t kill him, kill his partners. It’ll teach him a lesson,” The leader said.

            Umbreon watched as Mewtwo prepared an attack on his friends. He knew one way to stop it. He charged a hyper beam as fast as he could. His rage made it charge faster and charge up to a higher power than normal. He aimed at Mewtwo and released the attack. The attack lasted much longer than other ones, taking longer for a higher amount of energy to disperse through the beam.

            Umbreon knew he had won. After the attack, the room was still, not a sound could be heard. He came down from his rage-high and looked to where his opponents once stood. The mist around his paws and eyed faded out. He was shocked silent; his friends didn’t know if they should continue with him. What they saw was too disturbing, and it wasn’t about Umbreon

 

Chapter 42

Arctic

 

            They flew over the Pacific towards Alaska, where they would hopefully continue their training for the championships. They were flying at 630mph through the night, the jet stream boosting their speed. They had been silent ever since they left Japan. Umbreon wasn’t sure what to say to Eevee and Pidgeotto, and they weren’t sure about what to say to him. Umbreon decided to break the silence.

            “I’m sorry about what happened back there,” he said, “I didn’t know what was happening, and I’m glad it wasn’t directed towards you.”

            “It’s okay,” Eevee said, “I am still concerned though. How safe can we stay if when people mention something relating to, uh, ‘him.’ You know the rest”

            “How can it be okay if at the Sunrise Gym you just—,” Pidgeotto started to argue.

            “Shut up!” Umbreon cut off Pidgeotto, “How about we just don’t talk about what happened,” Umbreon said, looking down at the platinum, infinity-shaped badge. A crimson smear vaguely hinting to what happened. He didn’t want to wear the badge, it was just a bad reminder of what happened, but he had to, only to pursue his dream.

            They flew on in silence waiting to get out of the sky and onto solid ground. They would have to train hard to be able to win what they had been working so hard to get to. The championships started in early August. It was late March now. They had just four months to prepare. They would go to extreme climates to train and be prepared for any situation. Umbreon highly doubted that anyone else would be doing this, but he also doubted that it was the best. He was continuing with his plan anyway.

 

———

 

            As they approached Anchorage airport, everyone was in a better mood. They were almost back in America, and they could soon start being mischievous soon. They liked doing seemingly little things that caused such a big reaction. They approached the airport, concealed by the falling snow. They had been cleared for landing by an unaware control tower man. The newly painted white skin of their plane blending through the white sky. Umbreon had gotten this done because the black absorbed too much heat from the sun.

            Umbreon approached the snow-covered runway at 115mph with flaps and landing gear extended. They touched down and slowly came to a near stop in the shallow snow, leaving tracks behind from the wheels. Soon, it will be the only remainder of their visit.

            They taxied towards where the fuel was and performed their normal procedure to fuel their plane. They had performed this many times before and had improved the time it took to get in, get out, and get going. They finished fueling the plane and parked by a hangar, the snow concealing them.

            Early the next morning, they set out to leave. They taxied down towards the runway, going past the snow covered control tower. Unknowing to them, the snow hadn’t fully concealed them. Someone snapped a picture of the plane at it rolled by. The white plane was barely visible against the snow-covered taxiway and the snowy sky. Even though it was barely visible, the shape was unmistakable. Soon, everyone would know that the Fury and his partners in chaos were back in town after many months of mystery.

            They taxied to the runway, where they were cleared for takeoff on the recently plowed runway. They took off, leaving only shallow tire tracks and one picture. They flew north and eventually disappeared from the radar. They were heading deep into the Alaskan wilderness.

            As they flew north, Umbreon explained to Eevee and Pidgeotto that they would continue their training somewhere north of the Arctic circle. Both of them were confused why they had to go so far north just to train.

            “Why are we going beyond the arctic circle, where it is very cold?” Pidgeotto asked.

            “We need to get used to battling in extreme conditions,” Umbreon replied, “It should only be about -15°F at this time of year. It will only get warmer for the two months we are going to be there for.”

            “Where are we going to get food?” Eevee asked.

            “Scavenging,” Umbreon replied, “There are plants up there that are used to the harsh conditions.”

            “You sound too confident,” Pidgeotto said.

            “Well before we start training, we need to find a place to land,” Umbreon said, “We are getting quite north. I’m guessing about 100 miles north of the arctic circle.”

            Eevee and Pidgeotto looked out the window for the first time. They were amazed by the scenery. Snow covered mountain with jagged black rock clashing with the white were towering thousands of feet off the ground. They were flying about 7,500 feet over a frozen river, the peaks of the mountains at about eye level.

            “This is amazing!” Eevee said.

            “I know,” Umbreon replied, “This is one of the reasons why I chose to spend two months training here.”

            Umbreon kept searching for a place to land, but it is hard to find a few thousand feet of cleared surface smooth enough for the have plane to land on. Most Alaskan planes had large, balloon-like tires in order to land on rough surfaces. This plane had smaller wheels meant for landing on smoother runways.

            After a long time of searching, Umbreon found a place which looks suitable for landing. It was next to the river, a large patch of small river stones next to the river. Umbreon descended until he was flying about 100 feet above the treetops. He flew over the place where he wanted to land once again, searching for any dangers. He was satisfied with the area and circled around for the final approach.

            He deployed landing flaps and landing gear to keep him in the air as he flew dangerously slow at 105mph. The plane wasn’t stable and tended to fall out of the sky at that speed. Umbreon didn’t want too much speed, the stones might be thrown up by the gear and heavily damage the plane. He increased the throttle slightly before landing to slow the descent.

            He gingerly set the plane down near the edge of the patch of stones. The plane bounced awkwardly over the stones. Their wet surfaces didn’t help the plane slow down either. The smooth, wet surfaces caused the plane to skid as Umbreon tried to slow down. He was running out of clear area.

            “Take off again!” Pidgeotto shouted.

            He was still going 40mph and trying to slow down. He steered the plane away from the riverbank and up s small mound of river stones. The plane kept sliding on the wet stones and they eventually ended up facing the river on to of a wide, 12-foot mound of stones.

            Umbreon turned to face Pidgeotto.

            “Do you know what would’ve happened if I tried to take off?” He asked

            “We could’ve flown away?” Pidgeotto replied, not confident with his answer.

            “We would’ve ended up in a pile of burning wreckage in those threes up there,” Umbreon responded, “Alaska is not the place you want to get hurt or die. Now let’s get settled in and get training.”

            Three days later, they had begun training after setting up a camp 50 feet into the forest. It had snowed a little bit and the temperature was around -10°F. In two months, they would leave and start their second phase of intense training.

 

Chapter 43

Heatwave

 

            One and a half months later, they woke up to the sound of rushing water. It was still early in the morning, but it was unusually warm out. Umbreon walked out to the plane to find a risen river threatening to drown the stony runway. Pidgeotto and Eevee, who had since turned back into a Sylveon, followed him. They saw the river inching higher against its banks.

            “Looks like we’re leaving early,” Umbreon said, “Now scramble into the plane, we have to leave before the river ruins the runway.”

            They scrambled into the plane and Umbreon turned on the engines. He quickly moved it off of the embankment and moved to the close end of the stony runway. He held the brakes as he increased the throttle, giving the propellers time to spool up. Once the stones began to shift underneath the plane from the thrust, the released the brakes and the plane jolted forwards. He had the flaps set to takeoff as the plane bounced beside the river. He pulled the plane’s nose up and it inched into the air. He steered over the river and ascended towards 7,500 feet, where they would stay until they were out of Alaska.

            “So where are we headed now?” Pidgeotto asked, eager to keep training; he was close to evolving.

            “We are headed towards Nevada,” Umbreon said, “Basically the opposite of the climate we were just in. We are just going to make a stop for a fuel run somewhere in California and then we will go over there. Maybe we can cause a little bit of trouble too.”

            “Stealing fuel is enough of trouble for me,” Sylveon said.

            They flew south towards northern California and landed on a hot runway, in full view of the public. There was no doubt now that they were back into the public eye. It only took 7 minutes to fill the partially full tanks, they were out just 13 minutes after they landed, flying on towards their changed destination of northern Arizona. They started flying over Nevada at a low altitude.

            “I’ve heard many stories about all of the ‘black spots’ in this area,” Umbreon said.

            “What are black spots?” Sylveon asked.

            “They are military owned areas that the Public can’t fly over,” Umbreon responded, “I’m going to fly low so we don’t get discovered by radar, and hopefully, we won’t encounter any bases, because I have no idea where they are.”

            “I hope we don’t,” Pidgeotto said, “Remember our last encounter with the military?”

            “A bit too well,” Umbreon responded.

            They flew on low at barely more than 1,000 feet over the desert landscape. They soon encountered some small mountains, so they raised their altitude by 500 feet to clear them by 300 feet. They were flying at 400 mph at 70% throttle over the arid landscape. The sun was beginning to set; it was probably 8:00. Pidgeotto’s sharp eyes saw something on sandy mountain that they were going to fly over.

            “Hey,” He said, “Do you see that white truck?”

            Umbreon barely had time to spot it.

            “Yes,” He replied, “Probably just a random person.”

            Umbreon wished he could shove those words back down his throat as he flew over the mountain and saw the sprawling complex with a long runway that stretched out into a small salt flat. An old, white Boeing 737 with a red stripe on the side was moving down the runway to take off. He cleared the base in only a few seconds, but it felt like hours. He had just made a huge mistake.

            “Uhh. What was that?” Pidgeotto asked.

            Umbreon was silent.

            “Was that a ‘black spot?’ Because it didn’t look very black to me,” Sylveon said.

            “Ups,” Umbreon managed to say, “That was a very large base… So yes, it was a black spot.”

            “Is the military going to go after us?” Pidgeotto asked frantically.

            They all heard a ping on the radar.

            “They already are,” Umbreon said.

            “If we don’t attack them, will they leave us alone?” Sylveon hoped.

            “What we did was basically the equivalent of an attack,” Umbreon replied.

            “So you’re basically saying we’re as good as dead,” Pidgeotto said.

            “Not if I can get this old plane to out maneuver and out run a modern military fighter jet.”

            Umbreon took a deep breath, said something to himself, then pushed the throttle to full. He then slanted the plane down towards the ground.

            “What are you doing? We’re going to crash!” Pidgeotto yelled.

            Umbreon stopped the descent just 100 feet above the tan desert landscape. He was traveling down a corridor of terrain that had no mountains, almost like a hallway. The speed increased to 520mph and stayed there as the engines roared. They flew on, leaving a cloud of dust behind them. The dot got close and closer, then stayed a set distance away. Umbreon hoped he would leave them alone.

            Another dot appeared on the radar, it had fired something, probably a missile. He waited until the dot was close to them.

            “Missile!” Sylveon yelled as he spotted a trail of flame through the dust cloud.

            Umbreon was already performing an evasive maneuver when Sylveon spotted it. He pulled up hard on the stick and forced the plane into a steep climb, almost 90°. The G-force was intense, causing Pidgeotto and Sylveon to temporarily go unconscious, and making Umbreon’s vision dark. Pidgeotto and Sylveon woke a few seconds later.

            “Why did you do that! I thought I was dying!” Pidgeotto shouted.

            Umbreon didn’t hear them, he was too deep in concentration. The plane lost speed as it rocketed past 5,000 feet. A few hundred vertical feet later, and Umbreon deployed full flaps, stopped the throttle, and pulled up more. The plane flipped on its back, then more, until the nose was pointed at the ground, they were now going backwards. The stresses of the maneuver was shaking the plane and causing some unusual noises. The plane slowed more, and for a heartbeat, they were still. He retracted the flaps and increased the throttle and the plane dove towards the ground, passing the pursuing jet as they dove.

            Umbreon reduced the steepness of the dive and kept going southeast. The speed climbed past 650mph in the dive. Umbreon was too focused on what the other plane was doing to notice his speed was climbing near 700mph as he was nearing the end of his dive. The wings of the plane started to shake and twist violently. Flutter. The forces it put on the wings could literally tear them off of the rest of the plane. He reduced the throttle and forced the plane to go into a climb. The speed lowered to a safe 350mph as he increased the throttle again.

            He looked at the radar to see that the pursuing jet was still behind them. Umbreon suspected it was preparing to launch another missile. They were flying at 2,000 feet above the ground, probably enough for another evasive maneuver. He started to move the rudders right and left, unbalancing the plane and causing it to rock side to side.

            “What are you doing?” Sylveon asked.

            “Saving us,” Umbreon responded.

            Another dot appeared on the radar. Another missile. Umbreon pushed the rudder to full left, and the unbalanced plane started to rotate on its flight path. The plane had almost rotated 180° when Umbreon pushed the stick to one side and the plane dropped altitude in a dynamic spin, avoiding the missile. The plane shook from the high-stress maneuver.

            The missile was gone, but the jet was still there, they had to get rid of it somehow. Umbreon didn’t know how. He regained full control of the plane and flattened it out just 300 feet above the now flat terrain. He was flying somewhere over Arizona. He had the throttle wide open, and the engines were slowly increasing their temperature, they couldn’t run like this forever.

            “I have an idea,” Umbreon announced.

            “Let us hear it,” Pidgeotto said.

            “Maybe, just maybe, if we cross the border into Mexico, the jet will stop pursuing us,” Umbreon said, “They will let the Mexicans deal with it, but we’ll be back somewhere else by the time they get someone to go after us.”

            “Maybe it’ll work,” Sylveon said, “I don’t think any of us know much about international relationships though.”

            “Just an idea,” Umbreon said, “It could be our only escape.”

            It was a race for the border, a little more than half an hour’s flight away. Umbreon kept the plane over a highway to make sure the jet didn’t try and shoot them down. If it did, there would be civilian loss. The military wasn’t keen on killing its own citizens.

            The radar pinged when they were about ten minutes away from the border. Five more dots were approaching from behind. Umbreon held the plane steady as they approached ever so slowly, they might just be able to get to safety. A few stressful minutes later and the dots turned around as the wall came into sight just a few miles away. They flew low over the wall, leaving a trail of grey smoke from the overheating engines.

            Umbreon reduced the throttle as they crossed. Immediately, the engine temperature dropped. Umbreon waited for the engines to cool to a normal temperature and for the jets to go away on the other side of the border. They were safe, for now.

            A few hours later, they were on the ground somewhere in the dry Arizona wilderness. The heat bothered Umbreon. He would rather stay in the cold than in the blistering heat. It was even hotter here than in the desert he came from.

            “We’ll spend a couple of months training here before we head off to the finals,” Umbreon said, “No one will see us coming. The army will probably say they shot us down.”


End file.
